University  of  California  •  Berkeley 

From  the  estate  of 
Iris  Thomas 


REMINISCENCES 


OF 


TWO  -YEARS 


IN  THE 


TATES  NAVY. 

m 


By  JOHN  M.  BATTEN,  B.  E.,  M.  D., 

Late  Acting  Assistant  Surgeon  United  States  Navy,  Pittsburgh,  Pa 


PRINTED  FOR  THE  AUTHOR. 


LANCASTER,  PA. 

INQUIRER   PRINTING  AND   PUBLISHING  CO. 

1881. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1881, 

BY  JOHN  M.  BATTEN,  B.  E.,  M.  D., 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


TO   THE 


Grand  Army  of  the  Republic, 

AND   TO   THE 

Soldiers  and  Sailors 

WHO     GAVE    THEIR    LIVES    AS   AN    OFFERING    FOR   THE 
PRESERVATION    OF   THE   UNION, 

0 

AND  TO  MY   MOTHER, 

SARAH     BATTEN, 

THIS   LITTLE   BOOK   OF   REMINISCENCES 


RESPECTFULLY   DEDICATED. 


PREFACE. 

THE  only  excuse  I  offer  for  publishing  this  little 
book  of  reminiscences  is  that  a  story  half  told  is  bet 
ter  than  a  story  not  told  at  all. 

J.  M.  B. 

7j>  Sixth  Avenue,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  May  8,  1881. 


8  CONTENTS. 

PA6E. 

Confederate  Account  of  It 35 

What  Mr.  Milton  Webster  says  of  the  Brush 36 

Up  Alligator  River 38 

Up  Frying-pan  River , 39 

Gushing  the  Brave 40 

Meeting  Gushing  for  the  First  Time 40 

His  Arriving  Aboard  the  Valley  City 41 

Blowing  up  the  Ram  Albemarle 41 

Three  Cheers  for  Gushing 42 

Cushing's  Official  Report 45 

New  York  Herald's  Dispatches 49 

Mr.  Galen  H.  Osborne's  Dispatch 49 

Mr.  Oscar  G.  Sawyer's  Dispatch 52 

The  Hero  of  the  Albemarle  in  Washington,  D.  C 62 

The  Valley  City  on  the  Dry  Dock  for  Repairs .' 63 

From  Gosport,  Va.,  to  Plymouth,  N.  C 63 

During  the  Month  of  November,  1864 .^  . .  ,  63 

Ashore  for  the  First  Time  at  Plymouth 64 

Ashore  at  Newbern 64 

Cruising t 65 

Rainbow  Bluff.     How  a  Fleet  went  up  the  Roanoke  and  came 

down  again 65 

New  York  Herald's  Dispatch 77 

Thanks  of  the  Officers  of  the  Otsego  to  Captain  Wood 86 

That  Old  Family  Bible 87 

The  Valley  City  and  Her  Officers 89 

Cruising 92 

Chincapin  Ridge 98 

Cruising 100 

Farewell  to  the  Officers  and  Crew  of  the  Valley  City no 

Homeward  Bound in 

Again  through  Dismal  Swamp  Canal 1 12 

At  Home 1 1 2 

Meeting  Men  of  Note 113 

Ordered  to  Cairo,  111 1 16 

Don  Carlos  Hasseltino 1 1 8 

Honorable  Discharge  from  U.  S.  Navy 124 


TWO  YEARS 


IN   THE 


UNITED  STATES  NAVY. 


A  FTER  having  passed  an  examination  before  the 
/JL  Medical  Board  of  the  United  States  Navy,  which 
was  in  session  at  the  United  States  Naval  Asylum, 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  Dr.  James  Green,  President  of  the 
Medical  Board,  I  received  the  following  appointment: 

NAVY  DEPARTMENT,  22 d  March,  1864. 

You  are  hereby  appointed  Acting  Assistant  Sur 
geon  in  the  Navy  of  the  United  States  on  temporary 
service. 

After  having  executed  the  enclosed  oath  and  re 
turned  it  to  the  Department  with  your  letter  of  ac 
ceptance,  you  will  proceed  to  Philadelphia  without 
delay,  and  report  to  Commodore  Stribling  for  tem 
porary  duty  on  board  the  United  States  steamer 

Princeton. 

Very  respectfully, 

GIDEON  WELLES,  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 
Acting  Assistant  Surgeon  John   M.  Batten,  United 
States  Navy,  Guthrieville,  Pa. 

9 


IO  REMINISCENCES    OF   TWO   YEARS 

After  bidding  my  relatives  and  friends  good-bye,  I 
proceeded  to  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  and  reported  for  duty 
on  board  the  United  States  steamer  Princeton,  which 
was  lying  anchored  in  the  Delaware  river  off  Phila 
delphia,  and  which  was  the  same  vessel  on  which 
Abel  Parker  Upshur,  Secretary  of  State  under  Presi 
dent  Tyler,  was  killed  by  the  explosion  of  a  monster 
cannon  whilst  visiting  said  vessel,  in  company  with 
the  President  and  other  members  of  the  Cabinet. 
The  duty  aboard  this  vessel  was  of  an  initiatory  char 
acter,  to  prepare  officers  for  clerical  duties  peculiar  to 
each  of  their  particular  offices.  I  made  the  acquaint 
ance  on  this  vessel  of  Surgeon  James  McClelland, 
who  was  the  Surgeon  of  the  Princeton.  He  had  en 
tered  the  United  States  Navy  when  a  young  man, 
and  had  been  in  the  service  ever  since.  He  was 
about  fifty-five  years  of  age.  The  first  morning  after 
sleeping  aboard  this  vessel,  I  was  awakened  by  what 
is  always  usual  aboard  a  man-of-war,  a  large  gun  fired 
at  sunrise.  The  concussion  and  reverberation  from 
the  report  of  the  heavy  gun  shook  the  vessel  till  it 
creaked,  and,  in  my  half-slumbering  condition,  I  won 
dered  to  myself  whether  it  was  not  a  real  battle  in 
which  the  vessel  was  engaged ;  but  upon  mature  re 
flection  and  inquiry,  I  learned  it  was  only  the  report 
of  the  sunrise  gun. 

One  day,  whilst  on  board  the  Princeton,  a  blank 
book  in  which  were  copied  a  number  of  choice  prescrip 
tions  used  by  many  of  the  old  celebrated  physicians  of 
Philadelphia,  fell  into  my  hands.  The  book  belonged 


IN    THE    UNITED   STATES    NAVY.  i  i 

to  Surgeon  James  McClelland.     I  thought,  as  I  had 
nothing  else  special  to  do,  I  would  occupy  the  time  in 
re-copying   these  prescriptions  into  a  blank  book  of 
my  own;  and  just  as  I  was  re-copying   the  last  pre 
scription,  Dr.  James  McClelland  came  aboard.     He 
noticed    me    engaged  in  writing,  and  came  into  the 
state-room  where  I  was,  and  observed  his  book.     He 
immediately  asked  me  where  I  had  got  the  book.     I 
told  him  where  I  had  got  it. 

"  Why,"  said  he,  "  I  would  not  take  any  money  for 
a  copy  of  those  prescriptions.  I  consider  them 
very  valuable,  and  would  not  for  any  considera 
tion  let  my  best  friend  have  a  copy  of  them." 

I  told  him  that  I  believed  it  to  be  very  wrong  not 
to  let  prescriptions  which  have  been  found  valuable 
in  disease,  be  known.  After  reprimanding  me  for  re- 
copying  the  prescriptions,  he  cooled  down,  and  became 
very  affable.  I,  however,  got  a  copy  of  the  prescrip 
tions. 

Another  day,  in  rowing  aboard  the  Princeton  from 
the  United  States  Navy  Yard  at  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  I 
acted  as  coxswain,  and  came  very  near  capsizing  the 
boat  in  the  Delaware  river.  The  river  was  very  rough, 
and  I  got  the  boat  in  what  the  sailors  call  the  "trough 
of  the  sea."  I,  however,  arrived  on  board  the  Prince 
ton  safely,  after  running  the  boat  "  bows  on  "  against 
the  steamer.  The  officer  of  the  deck  said : 

"  Sir,  why  don't  you  bring  that  boat  alongside  in  a 
sailor-like  manner?" 

"  Why,"  I  said,  "  I  am  glad  to  get  aboard  in  any 


12  REMINISCENCES    OF    TWO    YEARS 

manner,  even  though  there  were  a  hole  stove  in  the 
side  of  the  Princeton  by  my  boat;  besides,  sir,  I  know 
nothing  about  bringing  a  boat  alongside  in  a  sailor-like 
manner."  I  soon,  however,  learned  to  manage  a 
small  boat  in  water  very  well. 

On  receiving  the  following  order: 

NAVY  DEPARTMENT,  5th  April,  1864. 

SIR  :  You  are  hereby  detached  from  the  Princeton, 
and  you  will  proceed  to  Hampton  Roads,  Va.,  with 
out  delay,  and  report  to  Acting  Rear  Admiral  Lee 
for  duty  on  board  the  United  States  steamer  Valley 
City. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant. 

GIDEON  WELLES,  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 
Acting   Assistant   Surgeon   John    M.   Batten,    U.    S. 

Navy,  Philadelphia. 

I  left  the  Princeton,  and  after  bidding  my  mother 
farewell,  who  was  stopping  with  my  sister,  who 
resided  in  Philadelphia — this  was  a  hard  task,  and 
it  affected  us  both  greatly;  but  separate  we  did,  and 
whether  we  should  ever  meet  again  in  this  world 
was  a  question  which  time  alone  would  determine 
— on  turning  a  corner  I  looked  back,  and  saw  my 
mother  standing  on  the  steps  of  the  doorway,  weep 
ing.  It  was  to  me  an  affecting  separation.  I  jour 
neyed  to  the  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore  railroad 
depot,  located  in  the  southern  part  of  Philadel 
phia,  Pa.,  and  at  8  o'clock  a.  m.  of  a  beautiful  day  I 
took  the  train  for  Baltimore,  Md.,  arriving  in  that 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  13 

city  at  about  noon  of  the  same  day.  Having  some 
time  to  view  the  city,  I  took  advantage  of  the  oppor 
tunity,  and  promenaded  the  principal  thoroughfares. 
At  5  o'clock  p.  m.,  I  took  the  steamer  Louisiana  for 
Fortress  Monroe,  and  arrived  there  the  next  morning, 
and  as  soon  thereafter  as  possible  reported  to  Admiral 
Lee.  On  the  back  of  my  order  I  find : 

Delivered  April  6,  1864,  C.  K.  Stribling,  Comman 
der. 

Delivered  April  6,  1864,  John  Calhoun,  Comman 
dant. 

Flagship  Minnesota,  off  Newport  News,  Va. 

Reported  April  8,  1864. — Apply  to  Col.  Biggs, 
Army  Quartermaster  at  Fortress  Monroe,  for  trans 
portation  to  Newbern,  and  then  report  to  Captain 
Davenport  in  the  sounds  of  North  Carolina. 

S.  P.  LEE,  Acting  Rear  Admiral, 
Commanding  North  Atlantic  Blockading  Squadron. 

Transportation  will  be  given  by  first  steamer  bound 
for  North  Carolina.  HERMAN  BIGGS. 

April  9,  1864. 
Reported  April  14,  1864. 

Report  to  Acting  Master  J.  A.  J.  Brooks,  Com 
manding  U.  S.  steamer  Valley  City. 

H.  K.  DAVENPORT,  Commander  U.  S.  N., 
Senior  Naval  Officer,  Sounds  of  N.  C. 

Reported  April  15,  1864. 

JOHN  A.  J.  BROOKS,  Acting  Master, 
Commanding  U.  S.  steamer  Valley  City. 


14  REMINISCENCES    OF    TWO    YEARS 

It  being  late  in  the  evening  of  April  8,  1864,  when 
I  reported  on  board  the  United  States  steamer  Minne 
sota,  and  there  being  no  opportunity  to  return  ashore, 
I  was  compelled  to  remain  aboard  the  Minnesota  till 
the  following  morning,  April  9,  1864.  Being  very 
much  fatigued,  I  retired  early,  and  soon  fell  soundly 
asleep.  About  I  a.  m.,  I  was  aroused  from  my  slum 
bers  by  a  noise ;  I  could  not  for  the  life  of  me  tell 
from  whence  it  came  or  whither  it  had  gone  ;  but  it 
was  sufficient  to  arouse  and  bewilder  me,  for  it  made 
the  vessel  tremble.  I  soon  arose  from  my  sleeping 
couch,  put  on  my  clothes,  and  made  my  way,  in  the 
darkness,  through  the  ward-room  to  the  forward 
hatchway,  and  to  the  gun -deck.  There  I  found  Ad 
miral  Lee,  with  his  officers  and  men,  on  deck  in  their 
night  clothes.  I  soon  learned  what  was  the  cause  of 
the  excitement.  It  was  an  explosion  of  a  hundred- 
pound  torpedo  under  the  bottom  of  the  Minnesota, 
which  had  been  borne  thither  by  a  torpedo-boat 
manned  by  Confederates  from  somewhere  up  the 
James  river.  The  officers  and  men  on  deck,  in  the 
gloom  of  the  night,  were  discussing  in  a  subdued  but 
excited  tone  the  possibility  of  capturing  the  torpedo- 
boat  ;  but,  owing  to  the  fires  in  the  picket-boats  to  the 
Minnesota  being  out,  nothing  could  be  done  till  the 
steam  in  them  was  raised;  and  in  the  meantime  the 
torpedo-boat  was  allowed  to  return  up  the  James 
river.  The  damage  to  the  Minnesota  was  considera 
ble,  though  no  hole  was  made  in  her  hull.  Her  guns 
were  dismounted,  her  partitions  were  broken  down, 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  15 

her  doors  were  jambed,  her  chairs  and  tables  were 
upset,  and  crockery- ware  broken.  After  the  excite 
ment  of  the  occasion  was  over,  I  returned  to  my 
berth,  and  slept  soundly  till  morning. 

After  a  few  days  spent  in  visiting  the  important 
places  in  the  vicinity  of  Hampton,  one  of  which  was 
Fortress  Monroe,  I  took  passage  on  a  boat  through 
the  Dismal  Swamp  Canal  to  Albemarle  Sound,  and 
from  thence  through  the  sounds  of  North  Carolina 
to  the  Neuse  river,  up  which  we  steamed  to  Newbern, 
where  I  reported  to  Commander  H.  K.  Davenport,  on 
board  the  United  States  steamer  Hetzel,  who  ordered 
me  to  report  for  duty  to  Acting  Master  J.  A.  J. 
Brooks,  aboard  the  United  States  Steamer  Valley  City, 
which  was  lying  off  Hill's  Point,  near  Washington, 
N.  C,  on  the  Tar  river.  Dr.  F.  E.  Martindale,  Surgeon 
aboard  the  Valley  City,  the  gentleman  whom  I  was  to 
relieve,  met  me  at  Newbern,  N.  C.,  and  accompanied 
me  to  that  vessel. 

It  was  5  a.  m.  of  April  15,  1864,  when  I  reported 
to  Captain  J.  A.  J.  Brooks  for  duty.  I  was  ushered 
into  the  ward-room  of  the  Valley  City  and  introduced 
to  the  officers,  some  of  whom  were  not  up.  James 
M.  Battin,  the  engineer,  one  of  the  officers  who  had 
not  yet  arisen,  on  hearing  my  name  mentioned, 
thought  that  letters  directed  to  him  were  being  called, 
and  he  sprang  suddenly  out  of  his  berth ;  but  it  was 
only  to  be  introduced  to  a  person  of  the  same  name, 
yet  an  entire  stranger.  Dr.  Martindale  had  been  ex 
pecting  his  relief  for  some  weeks ;  being  anxious  to 


1 6  REMINISCENCES    OF   TWO    YEARS 

return  home  to  his  family,  he  left  for  Newbern  in  the 
same  boat  (the  Trumpeter)  which  brought  us  hither 
from  that  place. 

Washington  is  a  small  town,  situated  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Tar  river,  thirty  miles  from  its  mouth. 
It  was  occupied  by  about  fifteen  hundred  Federal 
troops.  The  United  States  steamer  Louisiana,  the 
vessel  on  which  the  powder  was  afterwards  exploded 
off  Fort  Fisher,  was  lying  immediately  off  the  town. 
Below  Washington,  N.  C,  on  either  side  of  the  river, 
there  was  timber.  On  the  right  bank,  just  below  the 
town,  was  Rodman's  Point ;  three  miles  farther  down 
the  river,  on  the  same  side,  was  Hill's  Point,  and  still 
farther  down  on  the  same  side  was  Maule's  Point — 
places  which  the  Confederates  had  fortified  previous 
to  their  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  Federals. 

Newbern  on  the  Neuse  river,  Washington  on  the 
Tar  river,  and  Plymouth  on  the  Roanoke  river,  lie  in 
a  circle  which  might  be  described  from  a  point  some 
where  in  Pamlico  Sound — the  former  and  latter 
towns  being  each  about  thirty  miles  from  Washington, 
the  latter  town  being  in  the  middle;  so  that  the  report 
of  heavy  artillery  could  be  heard  at  Washington  from 
either  of  the  other  two  places. 

Saturday,  April  16,  1864,  my  diary  states  that  Ply 
mouth  was  attacked  by  the  Confederates.  Firing 
continued  every  day  till  Tuesday,  April  19,  1864, 
when  the  place  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Confederates. 
Lieutenant-Commander  Charles  W.  Flusser  made  a 
remark  early  in  the  morning  of  April  19,  1864,  that 


^  IN   THE   UNITED   STATES   NAVY.  i; 

he  would  either  sink  the  rebel  ram  Albemarle  before 
night,  or  he  would  be  in .  Captain  Flusser  com 
manded  the  United  States  steamer  Miami,  and  Captain 
French  the  ill-fated  Southfield.  These  two  vessels  had 
been  lashed  together  at  their  sterns  early  in  the  morn 
ing,  for  the  purpose  of  inducing  the  Albemarle  to 
come  between  the  vessels,  and  in  this  manner,  if  pos 
sible,  sink  her.  The  rebel  ram,  early  in  the  morning 
of  April  19,  came  floating  down  the  Roanoke  river 
with  the  current,  past  the  batteries  on  the  right  bank 
of  the  river  above  Plymouth,  and  bore  down  upon  the 
United  States  steamers  Southfield  and  Bombshell, 
and  sunk  them.  It  is  supposed  that  Captain  Flus 
ser,  in  the  excitement  of  the  moment,  exposed  him 
self  unnecessarily,  and  was  shot  by  a  sharp-shooter 
from  the  Albemarle.  When  it  was  noised  among  the 
Federal  army  and  naval  forces  at  Plymouth  that 
Flusser  was  killed,  the  Federal  forces  became  more  or 
less  demoralized,  and  the  place  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  Confederates.  Captain  Flusser  was  a  brave  and 
daring  officer.  He  was  interred  in  the  cemetery  at 
Newbern,  and  on  a  board  that  marked  his  resting 
place,  in  the  fall  of  1864,  was  inscribed  his  name,  and 
below  it,  "  Peace  to  his  ashes." 

On  Wednesday,  April  27,  1864,  an  attack  was 
made  by  the  Confederates  on  Washington,  N.  C. 
There  is  great  excitement  among  the  residents  of  the 
place,  so  that  some  of  them  are  leaving  by  every  pos 
sible  route.  We  hear  the  firing  quite  plain  off  Hill's 
Point.  At  12  m.  all  is  quiet.  Preparation  is  being 


1 8  REMINISCENCES   OF   TWO   YEARS 

made  to  evacuate  Washington,  N.  C.  The  day  is 
beautiful.  The  ammunition  of  the  army  at  this  point 
has  been  put  aboard  the  Valley  City  for  the  purpose 
of  conveying  it  to  Newbern.  The  thermometer  stands 
85°.  The  Federal  large  guns  on  the  forts  outside  of 
Washington  are  being  fired  all  day.  The  Valley  City 
got  under  weigh,  proceeded  down  the  river,  and  shelled 
the  woods  below  Washington.  There  were  twenty- 
three  shells  from  the  32-pounder  guns  fired,  which 
burst  among  the  tree-tops. 

Thursday,  April  28,  1864. — This  morning  there 
were  a  few  shots  fired  from  heavy  guns  by  the  Federal 
troops,  but  they  soon  ceased.  The  evacuation  is 
going  on  quietly.  The  place  has  a  deserted  and 
gloomy  appearance. 

Friday,  April  29. — The  place  is  quiet.  Transport 
boats  are  steaming  to  Newbern,  laden  with  the  Fede 
ral  troops  and  provisions  of  the  place.  Two  gunboats, 
the  United  States  steamers  Commodore  Barney  and 
Commodore  Hull,  steamed  up  the  river  to  assist  in 
the  evacuation.  At  3^  o'clock  p.  m.  the  Valley 
City,  with  thirty-one  barrels' of  powder  aboard,  and  a 
large  number  of  shells,  weighed  anchor  and  steamed 
for  Newbern.  In  going  down  the  Tar  river,  one  of 
those  violent  thunder-storms  peculiar  to  that  climate 
came  up.  It  was  not  considered  a  very  safe  place  to 
be  aboard  the  Valley  City  with  all  this  powder  during 
a  thunder-storm.  I  was  glad  when  the  storm  was 
over.  We  got  aground  for  one  hour  in  Pamlico 
Sound,  but  arrived  safely  at  Newbern  at  9  o'clock  a. 


IN   THE    UNITED   STATES    NAVY.  19 

m.,  Saturday,  April  3Oth,  1864.  Washington,  N.  C, 
is  evacuated. 

Sunday,  May  I,  1864. — The  Valley  City  took  in 
coal  and  then  proceeded  toward  Washington,  N.  C. 
At  8  p.  m.  she  anchored  off  Brant  Island  light-house. 
May  2d,  Monday."  We  got  under  weigh  at  5  a.  m., 
and  proceeded  toward  Washington. — At  4  o'clock  p. 
m.  we  anchored  off  Rodman's  Point,  and  fired  a  shell 
into  Washington  at  a  number  of  Confederates.  We 
then  got  under  weigh,  and  proceeded  down  below 
Maule's  Point,  and  anchored, 

On  Tuesday  and  Wednesday,  May  3d  and  4th, 
nothing  of  note  transpired  but  taking  refugees  aboard. 
On  Thursday,  May  5th,  the  Valley  City  shelled  Hill's 
-Point,  then  she  got  under  weigh,  and  proceeded  up 
Pungo  river,  and  anchored  for  the  night.  On  Satur 
day,  May  7,  1864,  the  Valley  City  got  under  weigh, 
and  proceeded  to  Newbern,  where  she  arrived  at  9 
a.  m.  of  the  8th.  James  W.  Sands,  John  Maddock 
and  myself,  attended  church. 

Newbern  is  a  beautiful  town  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  Neuse  river.  Just  below  Newbern  the  Neuse 
river  receives  the  Trent  river  as  a  tributary.  The 
houses  of  the  place  were  brick  and  also  frame.  They 
stood  back  from  the  street,  with  yards  in  front  of 
them,  in  which  choice  flowers  grew  and  bloomed. 
The  streets  are  at  right  angles.  In  the  cemetery,  in 
the  western  part  of  the  town,  are  interred  many  of 
the  early  settlers  of  the  place.  The  cemetery  is  very 
old,  and  the  tombstones,  many  of  them,  present  an 


2O  REMINISCENCES    OF   TWO   YEARS 

ancient  appearance.  On  the  Qth  I  was  ashore — on 
the  loth  we  left  Newbern.  The  nth  we  arrived  off 
Maule's  Point,  and  took  on  as  a  refugee  Mrs.  Forbes. 
The  1 2th  raining,  the  Valley  City  took  aboard  some 
more  refugees.  On  the  I3th,  I4th  and  I5th,  nothing 
of  note  took  place.  The  i6th  we  destroyed  the  guns 
at  Hill's  Point.  The  i/th,  at  2:45  p.  m.,  we  proceeded 
to  Newbern,  where  we  arrived  at  8:30  a.  m.  of  the 
i8th. 

The  Valley  City  remained  off  Newbern  till 
June  4th,  when  we  left  at  I  p.  m.,  and  arrived  off 
Hill's  Point  at  9^  a.  m.  of  the  5th.  The  6th  we 
went  ashore  at  Maule's  Point,  and  got  a  mess  of 
strawberries.  The  7th  we  landed  at  Bath.  The  8th 
two  boats'  crews  were  sent  to  Maule's  Point  to  watch 
the  Confederates,  a  squad  of  whom  had  assembled 
there.  Two  shots  were  fired  from  the  Valley  City, 
one  to  the  right  and  the  other  to  the  left  of  the  house 
on  the  point  The  family  living  in  the  house  was 
very  much  frightened,  but  nobody  was  hurt.  On  the 
9th  and  loth,  nothing  of  note  occurred.  The  nth 
cloudy,  the  Thomas  Collyer,  a  mail-boat  from  New 
bern,  came  up  with  a  "  flag  of  truce,"  and  went  to 
Washington. 

On  the  1 2th  and  1 3th  there  was  nothing  of  note 
took  place.  On  the  I4th  we  went  ashore  at  Bath,  and 
called  on  Mr.  Windley's  family.  The  1 5th,  we  went 
ashore  at  Maule's  Point,  and  called  on  Mrs.  Orrell's 
family.  Mrs.  Forbes  made  me  a  present  of  a  Confed 
erate  flag.  In  the  evening,  we  steamed  down  to  the 
mouth  of  Pungo  river,  and  anchored  for  the  night. 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  21 

Thursday,  June  16. — There  was  an  armed  party 
sent  ashore,  for  the  purpose  of  foraging.  After  they 
had  returned  we  proceeded  up  Pungo  river  to  Leech- 
ville,  a  small  place  at  the  head-waters  of  that  river. 
The  occupation  of  its  inhabitants  was  cutting  down 
timber  and  making  shingles.  There  was  an  armed 
party  sent  ashore,  who  captured  and  brought  aboard 
a  quantity  of  corn.  We  then  left  with  a  scow  in  tow, 
and  proceeded  down  the  river  and  anchored  off 
Wright's  Creek.  The  i/th,  the  United  States  steamer 
Ceres  arrived  from  Newbern.  An  armed  party  was 
sent  ashore  for  the  purpose  of  foraging.  On  the  1 8th, 
in  company  with  the  United  States  steamer  Ceres,  the 
Valley  City  steamed  through  Pamlico  Sound.  The 
Ella  May  soon  hove  in  sight,  with  two  schooners  she 
had  captured  in  tow.  On  the  1 9th  the  Valley  City, 
Ceres,  and  Ella  May,  with  the  schooners  in  tow, 
steamed  up  the  Pungo  river,  and  anchored  off  Sandy 
Point.  At  about  10  p.  m.  we  proceeded  farther  up 
the  river,  and  landed  an  armed  party  of  men  for  the 
purpose  of  capturing  some  Confederates  at  Leechville. 
On  the  2Oth  we  proceeded  up  the  river  to  Leechville 
to  join  the  party,  which  had  already  arrived  there. 
Three  schooners  were  loaded  with  shingles.  On  the 
2  ist,  the  United  States  steamers  Valley  City,  Ceres, 
and  Ella  May,  proceeded  down  Pungo  river  with  the 
three  schooners  laden  with  shingles  in  tow.  On  the 
22d,  we  anchored  in  Pamlico  Sound.  At  8  a.  m.  we 
proceeded  towards  Newbern,  where  we  arrived  with 
the  schooners  in  tow  at  8  p.  m. 


22  REMINISCENCES    OF    TWO    YEARS 

On  July  4th,  the  Valley  City,  in  commemoration  of 
the  anniversary  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
fired  twenty-one  guns,  and  a  copy  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  was  read  to  the  officers  and  crew  of  the 
Valley  City  by  Captain  J.  A.  J.  Brooks.  On  the  5th, 
the  Valley  City  got  under  weigh,  and  proceeded  to 
wards  Tar  river,  and  on  the  6th  arrived  and  anchored 
ofTMaule's  Point.  On  the  loth,  the  Valley  City  got 
under  weigh  and  proceeded  to  Bath,  where  an  armed 
force  was  landed,  and  captured  John  Taylor,  Company 
G,  62d  Georgia  cavalry.  In  trying  to  make  his  es 
cape,  he  jumped  from  a  buggy  which  was  drawn  by 
a  horse  in  rapid  flight,  and  in  doing  so  injured  his 
knee,  so  that  he  was  unable  to  walk  for  five  weeks. 
On  the  fly-leaf  of  a  Bible  which  I  loaned  him  to  read 
in  his  leisure  hours,  he  wrote  : 

"  May  peace  and  happiness  attend  thee,  and 
Heaven's  richest  blessings  crown  thee  ever  more. 
When  this  you  see,  remember  me. 

"  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

"JOHN  TAYLOR. 

"Houstin  City,  Ga.,  July,  1864." 

At  about  10  p.  m.  of  the  same  day,  July  10,  an 
other  armed  party  of  men  was  landed  with  the  inten- 
tention  of  capturing  some  Confederate  pickets,  but 
did  not  succeed.  Bath,  N.  C,  is  a  very  small  place 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  Tar  river,  at  the  junction  of 
Bath  creek,  about  ten  miles  below  Washington. 
The  place  was  built  of  frame  principally.  The  people 
of  the  place  were  rather  intelligent. 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES    NAVY.  23 

July  13. — The  Valley  City  got  under  weigh,  and 
proceeded  down  Tar  river  to  Durham's  creek,  and 
sent  a  party  out  to  fish ;  afterwards  she  steamed  down 
the  river,  and  anchored  off  North  creek,  and  there 
brought  a  boat  to,  which  had  permission  from  the 
Federal  Government  to  trade  with  the  loyal  people 
of  Beaufort  county,  N.  C.  On  the  I4th,  got  under 
weigh  and  steamed  over  to  South  creek ;  from  thence 
down  to  the  mouth  of  Tar  river,  and  anchored.  On 
the  1 5th,  the  Valley  City  proceeded  to  off  Maule's 
Point  and  anchored.  Mrs.  Daniels  and  her  two  chil 
dren,  with  her  sister-in-law,  came  aboard.  On  the 
iQth,  the  U.  S.  steamer  Louisiana  hove  in  sight. 
The  Valley  City  proceeded  to  the  mouth  of  the  Tar 
river  with  her,  where  we  anchored. 

After  taking  abroad  our  refugees,  the  Louisiana  pro 
ceeded  to  Newbern.  On  the  2 1st,  at  7  o'clock  a.  m., 
the  Valley  City  steamed  for  Newbern,  where  she  ar 
rived  at  4  p.  m.  On  the  evening  of  July  31,  the 
Valley  City  was  ordered  to  proceed  up  the  Trent 
river  to  guard  that  river  in  case  of  an  expected  attack. 
August  4th,  the  Valley  City  was  ordered  down  to  her 
old  anchorage  off  Newbern.  On  the  5th,  at  8  a.  m., 
we  weighed  anchor  and  proceeded  down  the  Neuse 
river,  through  Pamlico  Sound,  and  up  the  Tar  river, 
and  at  6  p.  m.  relieved  the  U.  S.  steamer  Louisiana. 
At  7  p.  m.,  the  Valley  City  anchored  near  the  mouth 
of  Bath  creek.  Mrs.  Quin  and  Mrs.  Harris  were 
brought  with  us  from  Newbern,  and  landed  near  Bath 
creek. 


24  REMINISCENCES    OF   TWO   YEARS 

On  the  loth  we  weighed  anchor  and  proceeded 
down  the  Tar  river.  At  the  mouth  of  Bath  creek, 
two  shells  were  fired  from  the  howitzers,  at  a  house 
where  there  there  were  a  number  of  Confederates. 
At  2  o'clock  p.  m.  we  anchored  in  South  creek.  On 
the  nth,  at  12  m.,  we  weighed  anchor  and  proceeded 
to  Pamlico  light-house  and  anchored.  On  the  I3th, 
at  4  o'clock  a.  m.  we  weighed  anchor  and  proceeded 
to  Brant  Island  light-house  in  order  to  get  the  mail 
from  the  U.  S.  steamer  Massasoit  that  we  expected  to 
meet  steaming  near  this  point.  At  I  o'clock  p.  m.  we 
weighed  anchor  and  proceeded  to  above  Maule's  point, 
where  we  anchored  at  6  o'clock  p.  m.  On  the  i8th, 
at  7  o'clock  a.  m.,  we  weighed  anchor  and  proceeded 
down  Tar  river  past  Maule's  Point,  down  by  the  mouth 
of  Bath  creek,  and  down  by  South  creek,  where  we 
anchored  at  3  o'clock  p.  m.  During  this  cruise  there 
have  been  eight  refugees  taken  aboard.  On  the  iQth, 
we  weighed  anchor,  and  proceeded  to  Maule's  Point. 
On  our  way  we  stopped  at  the  mouth  of  Durham's 
creek.  Captain  J.  A.  J.  Brooks  and  I  went  ashore. 
At  6  p.  m.  we  anchored  at  the  mouth  of  Bath  creek. 
In  the  evening  there  was  a  heavy  thunder-storm,  ac 
companied  with  rain. 

On  the  2Oth,  at  9^  o'clock  a.  m.,  we  were  relieved 
by  the  United  States  steamer  Louisiana,  and  the  Val 
ley  City  was  ordered  to  the  neighborhood  of  the 
mouth  of  Roanoke  river,  in  Albemarle  Sound,  to  join 
the  fleet  composed  of  United  States  steamers  Sham 
rock,  Sassacus,  Ceres,  Tacony,  Chicopee,  Mattabessett, 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES    NAVY.  25 

and  Wyalusing,  to  assist  in  watching  the  Confederate 
ram  Albemarle,  which  was  stationed  at  Plymouth, 
which  is  situated  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Roanoke 
river,  eight  miles  from  its  mouth.  We  arrived  at 
Roanoke  Island  at  12  m.,  and  coaled.  A  portion  of 
Roanoke  Island  is  a  barren,  sandy  place,  separating 
the  Atlantic  Ocean  from  Pamlico  Sound. 

On  Roanoke  Island,  in  1585,  the  first  attempt  to 
found  an  English  colony  in  America  was  made. 
Though  abandoned  the  following  year,  it  was  in  ad 
vance  of  any  similar  effort.  After  the  war  commenced, 
the  place  was  held  by  the  Confederates  till  the  year 
1862,  when  the  Federal  forces  under  General  Burn- 
side  captured  the  place.  On  the  2ist  the  Valley  City 
left  Roanoke  Island  at  12  m.,  and  joined  the  fleet,  and 
anchored  for  the  night. 

On  Monday,  August  22d,  1864,  at  9  o'clock,  a.  m., 
the  Valley  City  was  ordered  to  the  mouth  of  Roanoke 
river,  where  the  United  States  steamers  Ceres  and 
Sassacus  were  anchored.  We  were  to  take  a  very 
dangerous  and  responsible  position,  immediately  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Roanoke  river.  During  the  long 
dark  nights  the  Valley  City  did  not  anchor,  for  it  was 
rumored  that  the  Confederate  ram  Albemarle  might 
come  down  any  night,  and  especially  a  very  dark 
night  under  the  cover  of  the  darkness,  so  that  the 
Valley  City  must  be  constantly  on  the  alert.  If  the 
Albemarle  did  make  her  appearance  at  the  mouth  of 
.the  Roanoke  river,  the  Valley  City  was  to  fire  one 
gun  as  a  signal  to  the  fleet,  which  was  anchored  six 


26  REMINISCENCES    OF   TWO   YEARS 

miles  farther  down  the  Albemarle  Sound,  and  then 
steam  towards  the  fleet. 

This  Confederate  ram  was  a  formidable  adversary 
on  water.  She  had  a  sharp  arrow-like  ram  extending 
twenty  feet  under  water  in  front  of  her  bow.  She  was 
plated  with  iron,  which  completely  protected  her  in 
mates  from  solid  shot;  she  had  two  two-hundred- 
pounder  Brooke's  rifled  guns  on  the  inside  of  this  iron 
encasement,  and  one  port-hole  to  each  of  her  four 
sides.  She  was  very  unwieldy,  but  in  a  body  of  water 
like  the  Albemarle  or  Pamlico  Sound  no  wooden  ves 
sel  could  cope  with  her. 

Friday,  August  25. — I  visited  Edenton  to-day  for 
the  first  time.  It  is  situated  pleasantly  on  the  bank 
of  Edenton  Bay,  as  it  is  called,  but  really  Albemarle 
Sound.  The  people  are  kind,  courteous,  educated, 
and  hospitable.  There  were  magnificent  residences 
in  the  place,  each  of  which  was  surrounded  by  a  large 
yard  with  shade  trees,  having  that  comfortable,  spa 
cious,  home-like  appearance,  which  so  many  of  the 
buildings  in  Southern  cities  present.  When  the  offi 
cers  of  the  Valley  City  first  visited  Edenton,  they 
were  treated  very  coolly  by  the  people;  but  gradually 
they  became  quite  sociable,  and  we  were  invited 
to  visit  many  of  the  families  of  the  place — in  fact,  one 
of  our  officers  afterwards  married  an  Edenton  lady. 
Edenton  was  a  sort  of  neutral  ground,  at  which  the 
Federal  officers  and  Confederate  officers  often  met. 
On  August  31,  the  day  was  clear  and  cool.  Nothing 
took  place  of  any  note  except  a  false  alarm  that  the 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  2/ 

ram. was  coming  down  the  river,  causing  some  excite 
ment  aboard  the  Valley  City. 

Thursday,  September  I,  1864,  the  double-ender 
Shamrock  came  up  from  the  fleet.  Last  night  some 
army  gunborts  took  an  armed  body  of  men  up  the 
Chowan  river,  to  be  landed  and  marched  across  to 
Plymouth  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  the  Albe- 
marle.  The  project  was  not  successful.  The  day  is 
cool  and  hazy.  The  double-ender  Wyalusing  came 
up  from  the  fleet  during  the  night.  The  Albemarle 
ram  is  expected  out  to-night. 

2d. — The  ram  did  not  make  her  appearance.  The 
double-enders  all  went  to  Edenton.  The  weather  is 
pleasant. 

On  the  4th  I  went  to  Edenton  and  spent  the  after 
noon  at  Mr.  B.'s,  and  made  the  acquaintance  of  his 
daughters.  On  the  6th,  H.  T.  Wood,  paymaster's 
clerk,  and  myself,  went  aboard  a  tug,  and  were  con 
veyed  to  the  United  States  steamer  Shamrock,  from 
whence  we  boarded  the  Trumpeter,  where  Dr.  P.  H. 
Barton  and  myself  held  a  medical  survey  upon 
H.  T.  Wood,  and  sent  him  to  the  United  States  Naval 
Hospital  at  Norfolk,  Va.  I  accompanied  him.  We 
left  the  Shamrock  at  7  o'clock  p.  m.,  in  the  Trum 
peter,  and  anchored  at  I  a.  m.,  September  7th,  and  at 
6  o'clock  a.  m.  weighed  anchor,  and  arrived  at  Roan- 
oke  Island  at  8  a.  m.  We  left  Roanoke  Island  at  I 
p.  m.,  and  at  8  p.  m.  we  changed  to  the  Fawn,  and 
after  steaming  two  hours  anchored  for  the  night.  On 
the  8th  we  weighed  anchor  at  5  a.  m.,  and  changed 


28  REMINISCENCES    OF   TWO   YEARS 

boats  to  the  Undine  at  1 1  a.  m.,  and  arrived  at  Nor 
folk  at  I  p.  m.,  when  I  immediately  took  H.  T.  Wood 
to  the  hospital.  I  stopped  at  the  National  Hotel. 

On  the  Qth  I  went  to  Quartermaster's  office  at  Nor 
folk  to  procure  transportation  to  Roanoke  Island,  but 
I  was  a  half  hour  too  late,  the  boat  Undine  having 
left  at  8  o'clock  a.  m.  At  5  p.  m.  I  heard  that  the 
Fawn,  which  had  made  connection  with  the  Undine 
in  the  Dismal  Swamp  Canal,  affd  the  boat  I  would 
have  been  aboard  had  I  not  been  too  late  for  the  Un 
dine,  was  captured  and  burned  by  the  Confederates. 
In  the  evening  I  went  to  the  theatre.  I  passed  the 
time  pleasantly  at  Norfolk  in  viewing  whatever  there 
was  of  beauty  and  interest  in  the  place.  On.  Sunday 
morning  I  attended  service  at  the  Episcopal  church, 
and  also  in  the  evening,  in  company  with  Mr.  Y.,  of 
Bellefonte,  Center  county,  Pa.  On  Monday  the  I2th, 
and  Tuesday  1 3th,  Mr.  Y.  and  I  promenaded  the 
principal  streets  and  visited  places  of  interest. 

At  6  p.  m.,  Wednesday,  September  14,  I  left  Nor 
folk  in  the  C.  W.  Thomas,  which  steamed  to  Fortress 
Monroe,  where  she  arrived  at  7^  p.  m.,  when  I  got 
aboard  the  John  Farran,  and  steamed  by  the  way  of 
the  Atlantic  Ocean  to  Cape  Hatteras,  through  the 
Swash,  and  through  Pamlico  sound  to  Neuse  river, 
and  thence  up  to  Newbern,  where  we  arrived  at  7  p. 
m.  of  the  1 5th.  Having  expended  all  the  money  that 
I  took  with  me  but  a  few  cents,  I  felt  perplexed  as  to 
how  I  should  reach  the  Valley  City,  which  I  supposed 
was  at  the  mouth  of  the  Roanoke  river,  where  I  had 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  2Q 

left  her;  but  on  going  ashore  at  Newbern,  I  soon 
learned  that  she  was  anchored  off  that  place,  having 
steamed  there  during  my  absence.  I  quickly  arrived 
aboard  her,  feeling  delighted  that  I  was  once  more 
among  my  old  naval  companions.  The  next  thing  of 
interest  I  learned  was,  that  Newbern  was  being  visited 
by  an  endemic  of  yellow  fever. 

Having  already  passed  twice  through  the  Dismal 
Swamp  Canal,  and  would  have  steamed  through  it 
the  third  time  had  I  not  been  too  late  for  the  boat  that 
was  destroyed,  but  I  was  destined  to  pass  through  it 
still  again  on  my  passage  home.  Lossing,  in  his  his 
tory  of  the  American  Revolution,  in  volume  I,  page 
311,  gives  a  very  complete  description  of  the  Dismal 
Swamp,  through  which  this  canal  passes.  He  says: 

"  Schemes  for  internal  improvements,  for  facilitating 
the  development  of  the  resources  of  the  country, 
often  occupied  Washington's  most  serious  attention. 
At  the  time  we  are  considering,  he  was  engaged,  with 
some  other  enterprising  gentlemen,  in  a  project  to 
drain  the  Dismal  Swamp,  an  immense  morass  lying 
partly  in  Virginia  and  partly  in  North  Carolina,  and 
extending  thirty  miles  from  north  to  south,  and  ten 
miles  from  east  to  west.  Within  its  dark  bosom,  and 
nowhere  appearing  above  its  surface,  are  the  sources 
of  five  navigable  rivers  and  several  creeks ;  and  in  its 
centre  is  a  body  of  water  known  as  Drummond's 
lake,  so  named  from  its  alleged  discoverer.  A  great 
portion  of  the  morass  is  covered  with  tall  cypresses, 
cedars,  hemlocks,  and  junipers,  draped  with  long 


3O  REMINISCENCES    OF   TWO    YEARS 

mosses,  and  covered  with  creeping  vines.  In  many 
places  it  is  made  impassable  by  fallen  trees,  thick 
brakes,  and  a  dense  growth  of  shrubbery.  Thomas 
Moore,  who  visited  it  in  1804,  has  well  indicated  its 
character  in  the  following  stanzas  of  his  legendary 
poem,  called  '  The  Lake  of  the  Dismal  Swamp : ' 

"  '  Away  to  the  Dismal  Swamp  he  speeds — 

His  path  was  rugged  and  sore  ; 
Through  tangled  juniper,  beds  of  reeds, 
Through  many  a  fen  where  the  serpent  feeds, 
And  man  never  trod  before  ! 

"'And  when  on  earth  he  sank  to  sleep, 

If  slumber  his  eyelids  knew, 
He  lay  where  the  deadly  vin'e  doth  weep 
In  venomous  tears,  and  nightly  steep 

The  flesh  with  blistering  dew  !' 

"  '  They  tell  'of  a  young  man,'  says  Moore,  in  his 
introduction  to  his  poem,  '  who  lost  his  mind  upon 
the  death  of  a  girl  he  loved,  and  who,  suddenly  dis 
appearing  from  his  friends,  was  never  afterwards 
heard  of.  As  he  frequently  said,  in  his  ravings,  that 
the  girl  was  not  dead,  but  gone  to  the  Dismal  Swamp, 
it  was  supposed  that  he  had  wandered  into  that  dreary 
wilderness,  and  had  died  of  hunger,  or  had  been  lost 
in  some  of  the  dreadful  morasses.'  The  poet  makes 
him  say : 

"  '  They  made  her  grave  too  cold  and  damp, 

For  a  soul  so  warm  and  true, 

And  she  has  gone  to  the  lake  of  the  Dismal  Swamp, 
Where  all  night  long  by  her  fire-fly  lamp, 

She  paddles  her  white  canoe. 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  3! 

"  '  And  her  fire-fly  lamp  I  soon  shall  see, 
And  her  paddles  I  soon  shall  hear  ; 
Long  and  loving  our  life  shall  be, 
And  I'll  hide  the  maid  in  a  cypress-tree, 
When  the  footsteps  of  Death  are  near !' 

"  Towards  the  southern  portion  of  the  swamp  there 
is  a  tract  covered  with  reeds,  without  any  trees. 
These  are  continually  green,  and,  as  they  wave  in  the 
wind,  have  the.  appearance  of  water.  On  that  account 
it  is  called  '  The  Green  Sea.'  The  eastern  borders  of 
the  swamp  are  covered  with  tall  reeds,  closely  inter 
laced  with  thorny  bamboo-briers,  and  present  almost 
an  impassable  barrier  even  to  the  wild  beasts  that 
prowl  there.  Into  this  dismal  region  Washington 
penetrated,  on  foot  and  on  horseback,  until  he 
reached  the  lake  in  its  centre.  He  circumtraversed 
this  lake,  in  a  journey  of  almost  twenty  miles,  some 
times  over  a  quaking  bog,  and  at  others  in  mud  and 
water;  and  just  at  sunset  he  reached  the  solid  earth 
on  the  margin  of  the  swamp,  where  he  passed  the 
night.  The  next  day  he  completed  his  explorations, 
and  having  observed  the  soil,  its  productions,  the 
lake  and  its  altitude,  he  returned  home,  convinced 
that  the  immense  morass  might  be  easily  drained, 
for  it  lay  considerably  higher  than  the  surrounding 
country.  Through  his  influence  the  Virginia  Legis 
lature  gave  a  charter  to  an  association  of  gentlemen 
who  constituted  the  '  Dismal  Swamp  Company.' 
Some,  less  sanguine  of  success  than  Washington, 
withheld  their  co-operation,  and  the  project  was  aban 
doned  for  the  time. 


32  REMINISCENCES    OF   TWO    YEARS 

"  It  was  reserved  for  the  enterprise  of  a  later  day  to 
open  the  Dismal  Swamp  to  the  hand  of  industry.  A 
canal  now  passes  through  it  from  north  to  south,  upon 
the  bosom  of  which  immense  quantities  of  shingles 
and  lumber  are  floated  to  accessible  deposits.  By  that 
canal  the  swamp  might  be  easily  drained,  and  con 
verted  into  fine  tillable  land.  To  every  visitor  there, 
the  wisdom  and  forecast  of  Washington,  in  suggest 
ing  such  improvement  a  hundred  years  ago,  is  most 
remarkably  manifest." 

Friday,  September  16,  1864.— The  Valley  City  left 
Newbern  at  4  o'clock  p.  m.,  with  Paymaster  Louis 
Sands  of  the  United  States  steamer  Shamrock  aboard, 
and  arrived  at  Roanoke  Island  on  the  I7th,  at  1 1  a. 
m.,  and  at  2)4  p.  m.  left  Roanoke  Island.  At  9  p.  m. 
arrived  at  the  fleet,  and  put  stores,  which  the  Valley 
City  had  conveyed  from  Newbern,  aboard  the  Sham 
rock.  On  the  1 8th,  at  6^  p.  m.,  left  the  mouth  of 
Roanoke  Island  to  go  on  an  expedition  up  the 
Chowan  river,  and  arrived  at  Winton,  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  river,  at  the  junction  of  Meherrin  river,  at 
8  o'clock  a.  m.  of  the  1 9th.  Winton  was  entirely  de 
stroyed  in  the  early  part  of  the  war,  leaving  nothing 
but  here  and  there  a  wall,  a  chimney,  or  foundation 
wall  standing.  An  armed  party  went  ashore  and 
captured  some  cotton,  and  came  in  contact  with  some 
Confederate  pickets,  with  whom  they  had  a  little  skir 
mish,  or  exchange  of  shots.  We  left  Winton  at  4 
o'clock  p.  m.,  and  arrived  off  Edenton  at  9  o'clock  p. 
m.,  where  we  anchored  for  the  night.  At  7  o'clock  a. 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  33 

m.  of  the  2Oth  we  got  under  weigh,  and  proceeded  to 
the  fleet,  where  we  arrived  at  9  o'clock  a.  m.  At  I  p. 
m.  we  steamed  to  the  mouth  of  Roanoke  river,  where 
we  anchored.  On  the  22d  we  got  under  weigh,  and 
at  1:35  p.  m.  arrived  at  Edenton.  Captain  J.  A.  J. 
Brooks,  Acting  Assistant  Paymaster  J.  W.  Sands  and 
myself  went  ashore,  and  called  on  Mr.  Samuel  B.'s 
family,  and  spent  a  very  pleasant  time.  At  3:40  p. 
m.  we  returned  aboard,  and  proceeded  to  our  old  an 
chorage  at  the  mouth  of  Roanoke  river.  The  weather 
was  cloudy  and  hazy.  On  Friday  23d,  at  12  j4  P-  m-> 
the  ram  Albemarle  made  her  appearance  at  the 
mouth  of  Roanoke  river.  We  immediately  fired  our 
signal  gun,  and  got  under  weigh,  and  steamed  towards 
the  United  States  steamer  Otsego,  commanded  by 
Captain  Arnold,  which  was  anchored  further  down 
the  Albemarle  Sound.  As  we  passed  the  Otsego, 
Captain  Arnold  ordered  the  Valley  City  to  steam  as 
rapidly  as  possible  towards  the  fleet,  and  the  Otsego 
would  follow  after.  We  soon  met  the  fleet  steaming 
towards  the  mouth  of  Roanoke  river.  The  Valley 
City  and  Otsego  soon  fell  into  line,  and  arrived  at  the 
mouth  of  Roanoke  river.  By  this  time  the  ram  had 
returned  up  the  river.  The  fleet  remained  recon- 
noitering  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  till  6  p.  m.,  when 
it  returned  to  its  old  anchorage.  The  appearance  of 
the  ram  at  the  mouth  of  Roanoke  river  caused  some 
excitement  aboard  the  fleet,  for  we  were  anxious  to 
have  the  ram  come  out  into  Albemarle  Sound,  so  as 
to  have  a  chance,  if  possible,  to  sink  her.  On  the 


34  REMINISCENCES    OF    TWO    YEARS 

27th,  at  1 1  y?.  a.  m.,  the  Valley  City  steamed  down  to 
Edenton,  and  remained  there  two  hours,  and  came 
back  to  our  old  anchorage. 

On  the  29th,  at  3^  o'clock  a.  m.,  the  Valley  City 
weighed  anchor,  and  proceeded  to  and  up  Scupper- 
nong  river.  At  1 1  ^  o'clock  a.  m.  we  got  aground  in 
a  position  transversely  across  the  river,  with  the 
stern  of  the  vessel  towards  the  left  bank.  About 
seven  hundred  yards  distant  on  the  left  bank  of 
the  river,  in  the  bushes  and  wood,  a  concealed  Con 
federate  battery  was  situated.  In  making  an  effort  to 
get  afloat,  the  guns  of  the  Valley  City  were  run  out 
of  position,  the  decks  were  crowded  with  hawsers  and 
ropes,  and  the  propeller  had  a  hawser  tangled  in  it  ; 
so  that  the  steamer  was  in  a  very  helpless  and  dan 
gerous  position.  We  were  not  aware  that  this  battery 
was  situated  in  the  place  named  till  at  3^  p.  m.  they 
opened  fire  on  the  Valley  City,  and  continued  firing 
till  half  past  5  o'clock  p.  m.  It  was  some  time  before 
the  Valley  City  could  clear  her  decks  and  get  into 
position  to  bring  the  guns  to  bear  on  the  enemy.  In 
the  meantime  Commodore  W.  H.  Macomb  sent 
orders  to  Captain  J.  A.  J.  Brooks  to  blow  the  Valley 
City  up  and  leave  her  as  best  we  could;  but  when  the 
Valley  City  got  her  guns  to  bear  on  the  enemy's  bat 
tery,  they  were  silenced  at  5^  p.  m.  The  shells  and 
bullets  from  the  Confederate  batteries  ashore  fell 
around  us  fast  and  thick,  but  fortunately  nobody 
aboard  was  seriously  injured,  notwithstanding  the 
vessel  was  struck  several  times  by  shell,  and  also  by 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES    NAVY.  35 

a  number  of  bullets.  At  9:20  o'clock  p.  m.,  after 
throwing  coal  overboard,  emptying  the  boiler,  and 
with  the  assistance  of  the  tug  Belle,  which  came  up, 
we  got  afloat,  and  were  towed  by  the  tug  Belle  down 
into  Albemarle  Sound,  along  side  of  the  Otsego.  On 
the  3Oth  the  hawser  was  taken  out  of  the  propeller. 
At  1:15  p.  m.  the  Valley  City  got  under  weigh,  and 
steamed  alongside  of  the  Tacony  for  coal. 

I  append  an  extract  from  the  North  Carolina  Con 
federate,  published  at  Raleigh,  N.  C,  bearing  on  the 
brush  up  the  Scuppernong  river  : 


"The  Goldsborough  State  Journal  gives  an  account 
of  quite  a  spirited  little  brush  between  a  small  de 
tachment  of  our  troops  and  some  of  the  Yankee  gun 
boats,  which  attempted  to  go  up  the  Scuppernong 
river,  in  which  the  Yankees  came  out  second  best. 

"  On  attempting  to  ascend  the  river,  two  boats  were 
attacked  and  forced  back  by  Lieutenant  Sharp,  com 
manding  Captain  Pitt's  company  of  cavalry,  assisted 
by  two  pieces  of  artillery  under  Lieutenant  Williams 
of  Lee's  light  battery,  and  Lieutenant  McWaston  of 
the  5Oth  North  Carolina  regiment,  with  thirty  in 
fantry. 

"  One  of  the  boats  got  aground  at  the  mouth  of 
the  river,  about  seven  hundred  yards  from  the  shore, 
where  she  was  well  peppered  for  some  time  by  both 
our  artillery  and  sharpshooters,  one  shot  Striking  her 
near  the  water-line. 


36  REMINISCENCES   OF   TWO   YEARS 

"  So  hot  was  the  fire  upon  this  craft  that  the 
Yankees  were  all  driven  from  their  guns. 

"  Three  more  gunboats  at  length  came  up  to  their 
relief,  and  opened  fiercely  on  our  little  party,  who 
courageously  held  their  ground  and  fought  them,  till 
the  approach  of  night  and  scarcity  of  ammunition 
admonished  us  to  retire  beyond  the  range  of  the 
enemy's  guns. 

"  We  had  three  men  slightly  wounded,  and  one 
howitzer  was  somewhat  damaged  by  a  shell. 

"  The  enemy's  loss  has  not  been  ascertained,  but  it 
must  have  been  considerable,  as  their  wooden  gunboat 
was  aground  and  under  the  fire  of  our  artillery  for 
some  three  hours,  and  it  was  well  ascertained  that 
every  man  had  to  seek  shelter  below  from  the  deadly 
aim  of  our  sharpshooters. 

"  Hit  him  again,  Colonel  W." 

Mr.  Milton  Webster,  Executive  Officer  of  the  Val 
ley  City,  says  of  this  "  brush  "  with  the  Confederates  ; 

"  It  is  a  pity  about  that  '  deadly  aim,'  for  we  did  not 
have  a  man  injured,  and  one  of  the  men  and  myself 
were  over  the  stern  exposed  to  their  guns,  and  though 
their  shot  fell  all  around  us,  we  were  not  struck.  A 
pretty  correct  account  of  the  time  of  the  action  and 
position  of  the  Valley  City  is  given,  but  there  was  not 
a  man  left  his  station  during  the  action,  although  their 
sharpshooters  fired  at  and  left  marks  of  their  bullets 
all  round  our  port-holes,  and  the  gangway  to  which 
we  afterwards  shifted  a  gun  to  bear  on  them. 

"  The  three  other  boats   did  not  even  get  within 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES    NAVY.  3,7 

range  of  the  enemy,  on  account  of  drawing  too  much 
water.  They,  however,  fired  one  shot  at  long  range, 
after  the  enemy  had  retired,  and  this  shot  was  made 
merely  to  get  the  range  of  the  enemy  in  case  another 
attack  should  be  made  on  the  Valley  City  before  she 
got  afloat.  One  of  the  two  boats  they  speak  of  was 
a  tug-boat  that  went  with  the  Valley  City  up  the 
river  to  assist  her  to  get  afloat  in  case  she  got 
aground,  and  was  manned  by  two  officers — one  an 
ensign,  the  other  an  engineer — and  five  men.  The 
tug-boat  was  not  armed. 

"  It  is  very  singular  that  they,  in  their  account  of 
the  brush,  should  italicize  the  word  wooden,  as  much 
as  to  say  we  had  an  iron-clad. 

"  I  saved  one  of  their  shells  that  lit  on  the  deck  of 
the  Valley  City,  which  fortunately  did  not  explode. 
If  the  Valley  City  had  been  afloat,  she  would  have 
silenced  their  batteries  sooner." 

On  Saturday,  October  I,  at  4  o'clock  a.  m.,  the 
Valley  City  got  under  weigh,  and  steamed  to  Eden- 
ton.  Captain  J.  A.  J.  Brooks,  Acting  Master  James 
G.  Green,  J.  W.  Sands  and  myself  went  ashore,  and 
visited  Mr.  Samuel  B's,  and  spent  the  time  very  pleas 
antly.  At  4  o'clock  p.  m.  we  returned  to  the  Valley 
City,  and  got  under  weigh,  and  proceeded  to  our  old 
station  at  the  mouth  of  the  Roanoke  river.  On  the 
3d,  the  U.  S.  steamers  Commodore  Hull  and  Tacony 
and  the  tug  Belle  came  up  and  anchored  near  us.  On 
the  6th,  I  was  ordered  aboard  the  Otsego,  to  hold  a 
medical  survey  on  one  of  the  officers  of  that  vessel,  for 


38  REMINISCENCES    OF   TWO    YEARS 

the  purpose  of  sending  him  to  the  U.  S.  Naval  Hos 
pital  at  Norfolk.  When  I  returned  aboard  the  Valley 
City,  I  found  a  refugee  aboard,  suffering  from  yellow 
fever.  She  was  taken  to  Edenton  aboard  the  Valley 
City,  where  she  died  of  the  disease.  We  called  on  Mr. 
Samuel  B.'s  family.  At  5^  o'clock  p.  m.  we  got 
under  weigh,  and  proceeded  towards  Roanoke  Island. 
At  12  p.  m.  we  anchored.  Early  in  the  morning  of 
the  /th,  we  steamed  to  off  Roanoke  Island,  where  we 
arrived  at  8  o'clock  a.  m.  On  the  8th  there  was  a 
breeze  from  the  northwest,  and  the  day  was  clear  and 
beautiful.  At  2  o'clock  p.  m.,  Paymaster  J.  W.  Sands, 
Acting  Master's  mate  John  Maddock,  and  myself, 
with  six  men,  sailed  in  a  small  boat  to  Roanoke 
Island.  There  was  a  heavy  sea,  and  the  wind  was 
blowing  quite  a  gale.  We  landed  at  Roanoke  Island, 
but  did  not  remain  long  ashore  before  we  took  the 
boat  for  the  purpose  of  sailing  back  to  the  Valley 
City.  We  did  not  succeed.  We  then  took  the  sails 
down,  and  the  men  rowed  us  to  the  vessel. 

On  the  Qth,  at  6  o'clock  a.  m.,  we  got  under  weigh, 
and  steamed  up  to  the  mouth  of  the  Alligator  river, 
where  we  arrived  at  9  o'clock  a.  m.  The  Shamrock 
was  lying  close  by.  The  weather  was  cold.  At  1:30 
o'clock  p.  m.,  the  Valley  City  proceeded  up  the  Alli 
gator  river.  At  7  p.  m.  we  anchored  off  Newport 
News.  On  the  loth,  at  4  a.  m.,  two  armed  boat's 
crews  were  sent  ashore  on  a  reconnoitering  expedi 
tion,  but  returned  at  I  p.  m.  without  accomplishing 
anything.  At  2  p.  m.  the  Valley  City  got  under 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  39 

weigh,  and  proceeded  down  Alligator  river,  and 
anchored  at  3  p,  m.  The  weather  is  cool,  and  there 
was  frost  last  night. 

Thursday,  October  nth,  at  5  a.  m.,  the  launches 
were  ordered  up  Frying-pan  river.  At  10  a.  m.  I 
went  with  Captain  J.  A.  J.  Brooks  in  pursuit  of  the 
launches,  and  after  rowing  about  six  miles  we  came  in 
sight  of  them.  At  2^  p.  m.  we  returned  with  the 
launches.  At  4  p,  m,  the  Valley  City  weighed  anchor, 
and  at  8  p.  m.  anchored  in  Albemarle  Sound.  On  the 
1 2th,  at  6  a.  m.,  we  got  under  weigh,  and  arrived  at 
the  fleet  at  8  a.  m.  At  9  a.  m.  we  got  under  weigh, 
and  at  10  a.  m.  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  Roanoke 
river.  The  ram  was  expected  to  come  out  to-day. 
On  the  1 5th,  at  11^  a.  m.,  the  Valley  City  got  under 
weigh,  and  arrived  off  Edenton  at  1 1  y2  o'clock  p.  m. 
Captain  J.  A.  J.  Brooks,  Paymaster  J.  W.  Sands,  and 
Acting  Master  James  G.  Green,  went  ashore.  At  5 
p.  m.  they  returned,  and  the  Valley  City  got  under 
weigh,  and  proceeded  to  the  mouth  of  Roanoke  river. 
The  weather  is  cool  and  beautiful.  At  10  a.  m.  of  the 
2Oth,  I  went  aboard  the  Commodore  Hull.  At  12 
m.,  returned  aboard  the  Valley  City.  At  9^  p.  m., 
the  Valley  City  steamed  to  off  Edenton,  to  protect 
the  tug  Belle,  which  had  got  hard  and  fast  aground 
during  the  day.  On  the  2ist  I  went  ashore  at  Eden 
ton,  and  spent  a  pleasant  time.  I  returned  to  the 
Valley  City,  when  she  proceeded  to  off  Roanoke 
Island,  where  we  arrived  on  the  22d  at  8  o'clock  a. 
m.  At  9  o'clock  a.  m.,  Captain  J.  A.  J.  Brooks,  Act- 


4O  REMINISCENCES   OF   TWO   YEARS 

ing  Assistant  Paymaster  J.  W.  Sands  and  I  went 
ashore,  and  made  the  acquaintance  of  Dr.  Walton,  of 
the  iO3d  Pennsylvania  regiment,  and  Colonel  Ward 
robe,  Commandant  of  Roanoke  Island.  I  spent  a 
very  pleasant  time  in  company  with  these  gentlemen. 
In  the  evening  I  became  acquainted  with  Lieutenant 
Wm.  B.  Cushing,  U.  S.  Navy,  I  will  quote  a  war 
reminiscence  which  was  pulished  in  the  Philadelphia 
Weekly  Times  of  June  7,  1879: 

"GUSHING,  THE  BRAVE. 

"  Reminiscence  of  His  Heroic  Adventure  in  Albemarle  Sound : 
By  J.  M.  Batten,  M.  D.,  late  U.  S.  N. 

"It  was  on  the  evening  of  October  22d,  1864,  I 
first  met  Captain  Wm.  B.  Cushing.  I  was  then  at 
tached  to  the  United  States  steamer  Valley  City, 
Captain  J/  A.  J.  Brooks  commanding.  The  vessel 
was  anchored  about  a  mile  west  of  Roanoke  Island, 
in  Pamlico  Sound.  Captain  J.  A.  J.  Brooks,  Pay 
master  J.  W.  Sands  and  myself,  left  the  vessel  in  the 
morning,  the  wind  blowing  a  strong  breeze  from  the 
west,  and  arrived  at  Roanoke  Island.  The  wind  con 
tinuing  to  blow  almost  a  hurricane,  we  attempted  to 
return  to  the  vessel  in  the  evening,  but  failed ;  conse 
quently  we  were  compelled  to  remain  on  Roanoke 
Island  all  night.  As  I  said,  it  was  on  this  evening  I 
first  met  Captain  Wm.  B.  Cushing.  He  then  was  a 
young  man  of  twenty-one  or  twenty-two  years  of  age, 
wore  long,  light  hair  falling  around  his  neck,  and  was 
rather  reserved  in  his  manners.  Captain  Cushing, 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  4! 

Captain  Brooks,  Paymaster  Sands  and  myself,  occu 
pied  a  room  together  that  night.  The  next  morning 
when  I  awoke,  I  found  that  Captain  Cushing  had 
gone.  Upon  making  inquiry  about  him,  I  learned  he 
had  departed  at  4  a.  m.  of  the  23d,  in  his  torpedo 
launch,  a  boat  he  had  constructed  at  the  Navy  Yard, 
Brooklyn,  for  a  certain  purpose,  and  had  proceeded 
this  far  on  his  expedition  with  the  steam  launch. 

"In  referring  to  my  diary,  I  find  that  on  Friday, 
October  28,  at  5:30  a.  m.,  the  Valley  City  weighed 
anchor  and  proceeded  toward  the  fleet.  The  weather 
was  clear  but  windy.  We  arrived  at  the  fleet  at  6 
p.  m.  The  fleet  was  composed  of  twelve  double-ender 
side-wheel  vessels,  manned,  armed  and  equipped,  and 
commanded  by  Commodore  Wm.  H.  Macomb,  and 
was  anchored  about  six  miles  from  the  mouth  of 
Roanoke  river,  in  Albemarle  Sound,  and  fourteen 
miles  from  Plymouth,  where  the  Albemarle  was 
stationed.  My  diary  states  that  at  7  p.  m.  we  got 
under  weigh,  and  proceeded  to  the  mouth  of  Roanoke 
river,  where  we  arrived  at  8:30  p.  m.  At  up.  m. 
we  were  hailed  by  a  voice  at  the  mouth  of  Roanoke 
river  :  "  Boat  ahoy  !  send  a  boat !  "  A  boat  was  sent, 
and  the  man  who  had  left  us  so  early  in  the  morning 
of  the  23d  of  October — Captain  William  B.  Cushing 
— was  brought  on  board  the  Valley  City  in  his  stock 
ing  feet,  with  only  a  coarse  flannel  shirt  and  panta 
loons  to  cover  him.  He  was  wet,  cold,  tired,  hungry 
and  prostrated. 

"  My  diary  states  that  after  leaving  us  on  the  morn- 


42  REMINISCENCES   OF   TWO   YEARS 

ing  of  the  23d  of  October  he  steamed  to  the  fleet  in 
his  torpedo  launch,  having  received  from  the  crews 
of  the  fleet  twelve  volunteer  men  to  accompany  him. 
On  the  evening  of  October  2/th  he  proceeded  with 
his  small  torpedo  launch,  with  a  torpedo  rigged  on 
her  bow,  up  the  Roanoke  river.  At  3:15  a.  m.,  Oc 
tober  28th,  exploded  torpedo  under  the  ram  Albe- 
marle  and  sunk  her.  He  (Captain  Gushing)  and  an 
other  man  were  the  only  ones  saved  from  drowning 
or  capture.  Captain  Cushing,  after  blowing  up  the 
ram,  jumped  into  the  river,  swam  ashore,  lay  in  the 
swamps  near  Plymouth  till  night,  then  proceeded 
through  the  swamps  till  he  came  to  a  creek,  where  he 
captured  a  skiff  belonging  to  a  Confederate  picket, 
and  paddled  himself  to  the  Valley  City.  The  tor 
pedo  boat  was  sunk,  and  about  a  dozen  men  were 
either  drowned  or  captured.  In  the  meantime,  the 
fleet  had  moved  up  to  the  mouth  of  Roanoke  river. 
Upon  learning  that  Captain  Cushing  was  on  board 
the  Valley  City,  Commodore  Macomb  ordered  the 
riggings  of  the  fleet  to  be  manned,  and  at  the  general 
signal  to  give  Captain  Cushing  three  hearty  good 
cheers;  and  such  cheering — it  made  those  swamps, 
forests  and  waters  resound  with  the  voices  of  glad- 
hearted  men. 

"  On  the  following  day,  October  2pth,  at  1 1  o'clock 
a.  m.,  the  fleet  weighed  anchor  with  every  man  at  his 
post,  and  proceeded  up  Roanoke  river,  the  Valley 
City  leading,  for  the  purpose  of  confirming  the  report 
of  Captain  Cushing  that  the  Albemarle  ram  was  sunk; 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  43 

and,  if  true,  capturing  Plymouth.  This  is  a  small 
town  situated  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Roanoke 
river,  eight  miles  from  its  mouth,  surrounded  by 
swamps  and  large  cypress  trees  as  far  as  the  eye  can 
reach.  One  mile  above  Plymouth  the  waters  of  the 
Roanoke  river  divide,  one  forming  the  Cashie  river, 
the  other  the  Roanoke  river.  At  about  two  thirds 
of  the  distance  from  the  mouth  of  the  Roanoke  river 
to  Plymouth,  the  Cashie  river  and  the  Roanoke  river 
are  connected  by  what  is  called  Middle  river,  so  that 
these  rivers  in  their  course  at  these  points  formed  a 
figure  resembling  the  capital  letter  A,  the  left  line  the 
Roanoke  river,  the  right  line  the  Cashie  river,  and  the 
horizontal  line  the  Middle  river. 

"  The  fleet  steamed  up  Roanoke  river.  The  day 
was  beautiful,  the  birds  were  singing  in  the  branches 
of  the  trees,  the  leaves  of  which  were  gently  rustling, 
and  the  water  could  be  heard  dripping  from  the 
wheels  of  the  fleet  as  they  made  their  slow  revolu 
tions.  All  else  was  quiet.  No  man  said  a  word. 
This  was  not  strange,  for  we  believed  the  river  to  be 
full  of  torpedoes  and  its  banks  lined  with  sharp 
shooters.  We  ascended  further  and  further  up  the 
river  till  we  came  to  Middle  river,  when  the  Valley 
City  steamed  through  Middle  and  up  the  Cashie 
river.  The  remainder  of  the  fleet  steamed  on  up 
Roanoke  river. 

"  After  arriving  at  a  point  in  the  Cashie  river  oppo 
site  Plymouth,  we  heard  heavy  firing  by  the  fleet, 
which  continued  an  hour,  and  then  suddenly  ceased. 


44  REMINISCENCES    OF    TWO    YEARS 

We  thought,  of  course,  that  Plymouth  had  been  cap 
tured.  At  this  point  we  picked  up  the  other  man 
who  was  with  the  expedition,  and  who  escaped.  The 
Valley  City  continued  to  ascend  the  Cashie  river,  and 
after  encountering  much  difficulty  on  account  of  the 
narrowness  and  crookedness  of  the  river,  we  arrived 
at  the  Roanoke  river  above  Plymouth,  where  we 
could  see  the  town,  but  we  could  see  no  fleet  nor 
American  flag.  We  concluded  then  that  the  Albe- 
marle  had  not  been  sunk,  but  had  driven  the  fleet 
back  into  the  Sound.  Of  course,  it  was  not  a  very 
happy  feeling  to  fear  the  ram  might  prevent  our 
retreat. 

"  After  some  delay,  and  an  exchange  of  shot  with 
the  enemy  at  Plymouth,  we  descended  the  Cashie 
river  to  Albemarle  Sound,  where  we  arrived  at  8  p. 
m.,  and  found  the  fleet  at  the  mouth  of  Roanoke 
river.  They  had  ascended  the  Roanoke  river  till  they 
came  to  some  obstruction  which  placed  them  at  a 
disadvantage  to  the  enemy ;  they  then  descended  the 
river. 

"  Commodore  Macomb  was  now  convinced  that  the 
ram  Albemarle  was  sunk.  The  Valley  City  was  now 
detached  to  convey  Captain  Cushing  to  Fortress 
Monroe.  We  weighed  anchor  at  12:30  a.  m.,  Octo 
ber  3Oth,  and  proceeded  through  Albemarle  and 
Pamlico  Sounds,  and  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and 
arrived  at  Fortress  Monroe  at  7  a.  m.,  November  I. 
A  fleet  of  about  one  hundred  vessels  was  stationed 
there,  preparatory  to  making  an  onslaught  on  Wil- 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  45 

mington.  Captain  Wm.  B.  Gushing  was  received  on 
board  the  flagship  with  a  salute  of  twenty-one  guns, 
and,  of  course,  was  almost  worshiped  for  his  heroic 
achievement  It  was  at  Fortress  Monroe  I  first  saw 
the  United  States  steamer  Kearsarge,  of  Commodore 
Winslow  and .  Alabama  fame.  My  attention  was  di 
rected  to  her  by  hearing  an  old  sailor  say,  '  Does  she 
not  sit  like  a  duck  on  water?'  And  truly  she  did. 

"  Captain  Cushing  is  now  dead.  He  certainly  was 
one  of  the  bravest  men  that  ever  trod  the  decks  of  a 
man-of-war.  Peace  to  his  ashes !  Commodore  Ma- 
comb  is  also  dead  ;  he  died  in  your  city  of  Brotherly 
Love,  while  taking  a  bath.  We  all  loved  him.  God 
bless  him." 

Published  in  the  New  York  Herald,  Thursday,  November  3,  1864. 

THE  RAM  ALBEMARLE. 

DESTRUCTION   OF   THE   FAMOUS    REBEL   IRON-CLAD— THE    RAM 
SUNK     BY    A    TORPEDO — DESTRUCTION    OF    THE    TORPEDO 
BOAT — TERRIBLE    MUSKETRY   FIRE — ESCAPE    OF    LIEU 
TENANT    CUSHING -HIS    ADVENTURES    IN   THE 
SWAMP — FULL   AND    INTERESTING    DE 
TAILS    OF    HIS     BRILLIANT    ACHIEVE 
MENT — THE   CASUALTIES — 
ETC,,    ETC.,    ETC. 

LIEUTENANT    CUSHING's   OFFICIAL   REPORT, 

WASHINGTON,  November  2,  1864. 
Admiral  Porter  has  communicated  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Navy  the  following  interesting  particulars  from 
Lieutenant  Cushing,  in  regard  to  the  sinking  of  the 
rebel  ram  Albemarle : 


46  REMINISCENCES    OF    TWO    YEARS 

"  ALBEMARLE  SOUND,  October  30,  1864. 

"SiR:  I  have  the  honor  to  report  that  the  rebel 
ram  Albemarle  is  at  the  bottom  of  Roanoke  river. 

"  On  the  night  of  the  2/th,  having  prepared  my 
steam  launch,  I  proceeded  towards  Plymouth  with 
thirteen  officers  and  men,  partly  volunteers  from  the 
squadron. 

"  The  distance  from  the  mouth  of  the  river  to  the 
ram  was  about  eight  miles,  the  stream  averaging  in 
width  some  two  hundred  yards,  and  lined  with  the 
enemy's  pickets. 

"A  mile  below  the  town  was  the  wreck  of  the 
Southfield,  surrounded  by  some  schooners,  and  it  was 
understood  that  a  gun  was  mounted  there  to  com 
mand  the  bend.  I  therefore  took  one  of  the  Sham 
rock's  cutters  in  tow,  with  orders  to  cast  off  and  board 
at  that  point  in  case  we  were  hailed. 

"  Our  boat  succeeded  in  passing  the  pickets,  and 
even  the  Southfield  within  twenty  yards,  without  dis 
covery,  and  we  were  not  hailed  until  by  the  lookouts 
on  the  ram. 

"  The  cutter  was  then  cut  off  and  ordered  below, 
while  we  made  for  our  enemy  under  a  full  head  of 
steam.  The  rebels  sprang  their  rattle,  rang  the  bell 
and  commenced  firing,  at  the  same  time  repeating 
their  hail,  and  seeming  much  confused. 

"  The  light  of  the  fire  ashore  showed  me  the  iron 
clad  made  fast  to  the  wharf,  with  logs  around  her, 
about  thirty  feet  from  her  side.  Passing  her  closely, 
we  made  a  complete  circle,  so  as  to  strike  her  fairly, 
and  went  into  her  bows  on. 


IN    THE    UNITED    STAETS    NAVY.  47 

"  By  this  time  the  enemy's  fire  was  very  severe,  but 
a  dose  of  canister  at  short  range  seemed  to  moderate 
their  zeal  and  disturb  their  aim. 

"Paymaster  Svvann,  of  the  Ostego.  was  wounded 
near  me,. but  how  many  more  I  know  not.  Three 
bullets  struck  my  clothing,  and  the  air  seemed  full  of 
them. 

"  In  a  moment  we  had  struck  the  logs  just  abreast 
of  the  quarter  post,  breaking  them  in  some  feet,  our 
bows  resting  on  them.  The  torpedo  boom  was  then 
lowered,  and  by  a  vigorous  pull  I  succeeded  in  diving 
the  torpedo  under  the  over-hang  and  exploding  it. 

"At  the  same  time  the  Albemarle's  guns  were 
fired.  A  shot  seemed  to  go  crashing  through  my 
boat,  and  a  dense  mass  of  water  rolled  in  from  the 
torpedo,  filling  the  launch,  and  completely  disabling 
her. 

"l"he  enemy  then  continued  their  fire  at  fifteen  feet 
range,  and  demanded  our  surrender,  which  I  twice 
refused,  ordering  the  men  to  save  themselves,  and  re 
moving  my  overcoat  and  shoes.  Springing  into  the 
river,  I  swam  with  others  into  the  middle  of  the 
stream,  the  rebels  failing  to  hit  us. 

"  The  most  of  our  party  were  captured ;  some  were 
drowned,  and  only  one  escaped  besides  myself,  and 
he  in  another  direction. 

"  Acting  Master's  mate,  Woodman,  of  the  Commo 
dore  Hull,  met  me  in  the  water  half  a  mile  below  the 
town,  and  I  assisted  him  as  best  I  could,  but  failed  to 
get  him  ashore.  Completely  exhausted,  I  managed 


48  REMINISCENCES    OF    TWO    YEARS. 

to  reach  the  shore,  but  was  too  weak  to  crawl  out  of 
the  water  until  just  at  daylight,  when  I  managed  to 
creep  into  the  swamp  close  to  the  fort. 

"  While  hiding  close  to  the  path,  the  Albemarle's 
officers  passed,  and  I  judged  from  their  conversation 
that  the  ram  was  destroyed.  Some  hours  traveling 
in  the  swamp  served  to  bring  me  out  well  below  the 
the  town,  when  I  sent  a  negro  in  to  gain  information, 
and  found  that  the  ram  was  truly  sunk.  Proceeding 
through  another  swamp,  I  came  to  a  creek,  and  cap 
tured  a  skiff  belonging  to  a  picket  of  the  enemy,  and 
with  this,  by  eleven  o'clock  the  next  night,  I  made  my 
way  out  to  the  Valley  City. 

"Acting  Master's  mate,  William  L.  Howorth,  of 
the  Monticello,  showed  as  usual  conspicuous  bravery. 
He  is  the  same  officer  who  has  been  with  me  twice  in 
Wilmington  Harbor.  I  trust  he  may  be  promoted 
when  exchanged,  as  well  as  Acting  Third  Assistant 
Engineer  Stolsbury,  who,  being  for  the  first  time 
under  fire,  handled  his  engine  promptly  and  with 
coolness.  All  the  officers  and  men  behaved  in  the 
most  gallant  manner. 

"  The  cutter  of  the  Shamrock  boarded  the  South- 
field,  but  found  no  guns  there.  Four  prisoners  were 
taken  there.  The  ram  is  now  completely  submerged, 
and  the  enemy  have  sunk  three  schooners  in  the  river 
to  obstruct  the  passage  of  our  ships. 

"  I  desire  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Admiral  and 
department  to  the  spirit  manifested  by  the  sailors  on 
the  ships  in  these  sounds.  But  few  hands  were 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  49 

wanted,  but  all  hands  were  eager  to  go  into  the 
action,  offering  their  chosen  shipmates  a  month's  pay 
to  resign  in  their  favor. 

"  I  am  sir,  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  W.  B.  GUSHING,  U.  S.  N. 

"  Rear  Admiral  D.  D.  Porter,  Commanding  the  North 
Atlantic  Squadron." 

"  The  name  of  the  man  who  escaped  was  William 
Hoffman,  seaman  on  the  Chicopee.     He  did  his  duty 
well,  and  deserves  a  medal  of  honor. 
"  Respectfully, 

'  "WM.  B.  GUSHING,  U.S.  N." 

THE    HERALD    DESPATCHES. 

[Mr.  Galen  H.  Osborn's  Despatch  ] 

"FORTRESS  MONROE,  VA.,  November  I,  1864. 

"The  United  States  steamer  Valley  City  arrived  at 
Hampton  Roads  from  the  blockading  squadron  of  the 
Sounds  of  North  Carolina,  this  morning.  She  brings 
the  glorious  tidings  of  the  destruction  of  the  rebel 
iron-clad  ram  Albemarle.  The  terror  of  the  Sounds 
is  at  the  bottom  of  Roanoke  river.  She  was  blown 
up  by  a  torpedo  early  on  the  morning  of  the  28th 
ultimo ;  and  her  destruction  is  due  to  the  personal 
heroism  and  reckless  daring  of  Lieut.  W.  B.  Cushing, 
of  the  Navy.  All  the  particulars  I  have  been  able  to 
collect  concerning  this  feat,  which  stands  prominently 
forth  as  one  of  the  most  gallant  of  the  war,  I  hasten 
to  forward  for  the  information  of  the  Heralds  readers. 

"On  the  night  of  Thursday,  October  27,  Lieuten 
ant  Cushing,  who  has  on  several  previous*  occasions 
3 


5O  REMINISCENCES    OF    TWO    YEARS 

especially  distinguished  himself,  manned  a  steam- 
launch  with  a  party  of  thirteen  officers  and  men, 
mostly  volunteers,  and  proceeded,  under  cover  of  the 
darkness,  up  the  river  towards  Plymouth.  Eight 
miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  stream  the  Albemarle 
lay,  surroumded  by  a  pen  of  logs  and  timber,  estab 
lished  to  prevent  her  destruction  by  torpedoes. 

"As  he  approached  this  framework,  Lieut.  Gushing 
was  discovered  by  the  officers  of  the  ram,  who  hailed 
him.  He  gave  no  answer,  the  enemy  meantime  main 
taining  against  him  a  severe  and  galling  fire,  to  which 
he  replied  effectively  with  frequent  doses  of  canister. 
Finding  that  he  could  not  approach  the  ram  as  he  de 
sired,  a  complete  circle  was  made  by  the  Lieutenant, 
and  the  launch  was  again  brought  fairly  against  the 
"  crib,"  bows  on,  pushing  back  a  portion  of  it,  and 
leaving  the  bows  of  the  launch  resting  on  the  broken 
timbers. 

"At  this  moment,  by  a  most  vigorous  effort,  Lieut. 
Gushing  succeeded  in  driving  a  torpedo  under  the 
over-hang  of  the  ram,  and  exploded  it.  Simultan 
eously  with  the  explosion,  one  of  the  Albemarle's 
guns  was  fired,  and  the  shot  went  crashing  through 
the  launch.  At  the  same  instant  a  dense  volume  of 
water  from  the  torpedo  came  rushing  into  the  launch, 
utterly  disabling  her. 

"Lieut.  Gushing  then  ordered  his  men  to  save 
themselves.  He  himself  threw  off  his  coat  and  shoes 
and  sprang  into  the  water.  Several  of  his  men  were 
captured  and  some  were  drowned,  but  I  have  not  been 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES    NAVY.  51 

able  to  ascertain  his  exact  loss.  Lieut.  Gushing, 
taking  to  the  swamp,  managed  to  secrete  himself  from 
the  enemy's  pickets,  and  brought  up  alongside  of  the 
steamer  Valley  City  at  about  1 1  o'clock  the  next 
night,  in  a  small  skiff  which  he  discovered  and  appro 
priated  on  his  way. 

"The  steamer  Valley  City  brought  Lieutenant 
Cushing  as  a  passenger,  and  he  reported  in  person  to 
the  Admiral  the  accomplishment  of  the  daring  mis 
sion  he  was  specially  selected  to  perform.  Though 
much  fatigued  by  the  severities  of  his  recent  task,  he 
is  yet  in  good  health  and  spirits,  and  is  at  this  mo 
ment  the  hero  of  the  squadron.  He  is  the  same 
officer  that  went  to  Smithville  and  captured  General 
Whiting's  chief  of  staff,  while  a  regiment  of  troops 
was  quartered  in  the  buildings  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  way.  It  was  he  who  took  a  small  boat  up 
the  Wilmington  river,  past  the  forts  and  batteries, 
landed  and  captured  a  rebel  mail,  staid  three  days  in 
the  enemy's  country,  and  finally  came  away  in  safety 
with  his  trophies.  But  this  last  act  of  his  stamps  him 
as  one  of  the  most  daring  men  in  the  service.  To 
attack  an  iron-clad  like  the  Albemarle,  with  a  launch 
and  a  baker's  dozen  of  men,  would  seem  the  height  of 
reckless  folly;  but  to  have  succeeded  in  such  an  enter 
prise,  is  to  have  earned  a  life  lease  of  glory. 

"  In  the  affair,  paymaster  Swann,  of  the  Otsego,  is 
known  to  have  been  wounded,  and  master's  mate 
Howarth,  of  the  Monticello,  captured.  Lieut.  Cush 
ing  speaks  very  highly  of  the  conduct  of  all  who 
were  with  him. 


52  REMINISCENCES    OF    TWO    YEARS 

"  The  destruction  of  the  ram  was  not  definitely 
known  until  the  following  day,  the  29th,  when 
negroes  sent  to  gain  information  returned  with  the 
glorious  news.  Reports  from  other  quarters  corrob 
orated  this  intelligence,  and  finally  a  reconnoissance 
by  the  Valley  City  revealed  the  Albemarle  resting  on 
the  bottom,  with  only  her  smoke-stack  visible  above 
the  water. 

"  The  yellow  fever  is  said  not  to  have  entirely  dis 
appeared  from  Newbern,  although  the  succession  of 
sharp  frosts  in  that  vicinity  has  somewhat  dispelled 
it.  The  steamer  John  Farron  left  for  that  port  yes 
terday,  taking  an  immense  mail,  and  a  number  of 
officers  who  have  been  congregating  here  for  some 
time,  waiting  for  the  sickly  season  to  terminate." 

[Mr.  Oscar  G.  Sawyer's  Despatch  ] 

"HAMPTON  ROADS,  VA.,  NOVEMBER  i,  1864. 
"The  most  audacious,  brilliant  and  successful  affair 
of  the  war,  occurred  in  the  waters  of  North  Carolina 
last  week,  in  which,  after  the  briefest  contest,  but  one 
as  it  will  prove  of  the  best  results,  the  rebel  iron-clad 
ram  Albemarle  was  effectually  destroyed  and  sent  to 
the  bottom  by  a  torpedo  discharged  by  Lieutenant 
William  B.  Cushing,  of  the  Navy.  The  great  mailed 
monster  that  has  so  long  excited  the  apprehensions  of 
the  Navy  Department,  and  held  in  the  Sound  a  force 
greatly  in  excess  of  that  which  was  usually  stationed 
there,  now  lies  quietly  at  the  bottom  of  the  Roanoke 
river,  a  subject  of  curious  contemplation  and  dread  to 
the  fish  that  frequent  these  waters.  In  the  squadron 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES    NAVY.  53 

every  one  feels  a  sense  of  relief  in  realizing  the  fact 
that  the  Albemarle  is  no  longer  afloat,  or  capable  of 
doing  further  damage ;  for  it  is  no  secret  that  she  was 
one  of  the  toughest  customers  for  wooden  vessels  to 
confront  that  has  yet  floated.  Her  raid  on  the  flotilla, 
on  the  5th  of  last  May,  proved  that  fact  beyond  a 
shadow  of  a  doubt.  She  then  encountered  and  'fought 
to  great  advantage  three  heavily  armed  double-enders 
— the  Sassacus,  Mattabessett  and  Wyalusing — and  re 
tired,  after  a  long  contest,  but  slightly  damaged. 
While  she  floated,  no  post  held  by  us  and  accessible 
to  her  was  safe.  She  could  go  her  way  as  she  chose, 
in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  our  wooden  vessels,  unless 
some  accident  occurred  to  her  which  should  prevent 
her  steaming.  None  of  the  light-draft  monitors  were 
ready  to  confront  her,  and  she  threatened  to  clear  our 
forces  out  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina. 

"Such  was  the  state  of  affairs  subsequent  to  the 
5th  of  May.  Our  squadron  in  Albemarle  Sound  had 
been  largely  increased  by  the  addition  of  several  light 
draught,  heavily-armed  vessels;  but,  even  with  these, 
it  was  somewhat  doubtful  whether  the  possession  of 
the  Sound  was  insured  us;  so  it  was  determined  to 
get  rid  of  the  monster  in  some  more  expeditious  and 
certain  way. 

"Lientenant  William  B.  Gushing,  a  young  officer  of 
great  bravery,  coolness  and  resource,  submitted  a 
project  to  Admiral  Lee,  in  June  last,  by  which  he 
hoped,  if  successfully  carried  out,  to  rid  the  Sound  of 
the  Albemarle,  and  insure  us  its  possession.  Ad- 


54          .  REMINISCENCES   OF   TWO   YEARS 

miral  Lee  entered  warmly  into  the  scheme,  as  did  the 
Navy  Department,  which  immediately  detached  Lieu 
tenant  Gushing  from  the  Monticello,  and  placed  him 
on  special  duty,  at  the  same  time  giving  him  every 
facility  to  carry  out  the  object  in  view. 

"Lieutenant  Gushing  at  once  proceeded  to  New 
York,-  and  in  conjunction  with  Admiral  Gregory, 
Captain  Boggs,  and  Chief  Engineer  Wm.  W.  W. 
Wood,  fitted  one  of  the  new  steam  picket  boats, 
which  is  about  the  size  of  a  frigate  launch,  with  a 
torpedo  arrangement,  and  then  took  her  down  into 
the  Sound  for  duty.  Having  made  several  recon- 
noissances  up  the  Roanoke  river,  which  gave  him 
some  valuable  information,  and  having  perfected  his 
arrangements,  on  the  night  of  the  27th  ultimo  he  got 
under  way  from  the  squadron  off  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  and  steamed  boldly  up  stream.  In  the  steam 
launch  were  Lieutenant  Gushing,  Paymaster  T.  H. 
Swann,  a  volunteer  from  the  Otsego,  Master's  Mate 
W.  L.  Howorth,  of  the  gunboat  Monticello,  and 
Third  Assistant  Engineer  Stolsbury,  in  charge  of  the 
engine,  with  a  crew  of  ten  men,  nearly  all  of  whom 
volunteered  for  the  service.  An  armed  cutter  of  the 
Shamrock,  with  an  officer  and  ten  men,  was  towed 
along  for  the  purpose  of  attending  to  some  of  the 
minor  details  of  the  work.  It  was  known  that  the 
enemy  had  pickets  along  the  river  banks,  and  on  the 
wreck  of  the  gunboat  Southfield  sunk  by  the  Albe- 
marle  last  spring,  and  which  lay  about  a  mile  below 
the  town  of  Plymouth.  The  pickets,  who  were  in  the 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  55 

habit  of  stationing  themselves  on  the  hurricane  deck 
of  the  Southfield — the  only  portion  of  the  wreck 
above  water — were  to  be  turned  over  to  the  care  of 
the  Shamrock's  cutter  when  the  proper  time  came, 
whilst  those  along  the  river  were  to  be  passed  in 
silence,  and  without  giving  alarm,  if  possible. 

"At  about  midnight  the  little  picket-boat  entered 
the  narrow  river,  and  steamed  silently  and  cautiously 
up  without  giving  the  least  alarm.  The  Southfield 
and  three  schooners  alongside  of  her,  engaged  in 
raising  her  up,  were  passed  at  a  short  distance — 
almost  within  biscuit-toss — without  challenge  or  hail. 

o 

It  was  not  till  Lieutenant  Gushing  reached  within 
pistol-shot  of  the  Albemarle,  whictf  lay  alongside  of 
the  dock  at  Plymouth,  that  he  was  hailed,  and  then  in 
an  uncertain  sort  of  way,  as  though  the  lookouts 
doubted  the  accuracy  of  their  vision.  He  made  no 
reply,  but  continued  to  press  towards  the  rebel  mon 
ster,  and  was  for  the  second  time  hailed.  He  paid  no 
attention  to  the  challenge,  but  kept  straight  on  his 
way,  first  detaching  the  Shamrock's  cutter,  to  go 
below  and  secure  the  rebel  pickets  on  the  Southfield. 
"  In  another  instant,  as  he  closed  in  on  the  ram  Al 
bemarle,  the  rebel  Captain  Walley,  in  a  very  digni 
fied,  pompous,  studied  manner,  shouted,  'What  boat 
is  that?'  The  reply  was  an  invitation  for  him  to 

go  to   !      Thereupon   arose    a   terrible    clamor. 

The  rattle  was  vigorously  sprung,  the  bells  on  the 
ship  were  sharply  rung,  and  hands  were  called  to 
quarters,  evidently  in  great  consternation  and  some 


56  REMINISCENCES    OF   TWO   YEARS 

.confusion.  A  musketry  fire  was  immediately  opened 
on  the  torpedo-boat,  and  a  charge  of  canister  was 
fired,  injuring  some  of  the  crew.  Along  the  dock  to 
which  the  Albemarle  was  tied,  were  a  large  number  of 
soldiers,  evidently  stationed  there  to  guard  against  a 
landing  of  our  force  after  a  surprise ;  and  in  front  of 
their  lines  blazed  cheerily  up  a  number  of  their  camp 
fires,  which  threw  a  strong  light  on  the  rebel  vessel 
and  the  bosom  of  the  river.  By  the  aid  of  this  glare 
Lieutenant  Gushing  discovered  the  raft  of  floating 
timbers  which  surrounded  the  ram  on  the  accessible 
sides,  to  guard  against  the  approach  of  rams  and  tor 
pedoes  ;  and  by  the  aid  of  the  same  light  he  plainly 
saw  the  large  body  of  soldiers  thronging  to  the 
wharf  and  blazing  away  at  his  boat.  To  quiet  these 
fellows,  he  brought  the  bow  of  his  boat  around  a 
little,  and  discharged  a  "heavy  stand  of  canister  into 
them  from  his  twelve-pounder  howitzer  mounted  at 
the  bow,  and  sent  them  flying.  Making  a  complete 
circle  under  a  scorching  musketry  fire,  at  less  than 
thirty  yards,  he  came  around,  bow  on,  at  full  steam, 
and  struck  the  floating  guard  of  timbers,  pressing 
them  towards  the  hull  of  the  ram.  His  boat  soon 
lost  headway,  and  came  to  a  standstill,  refusing  to 
back  off  or  move  ahead.  The  moment  for  decisive 
action  had  now  arrived  The  enemy  fired  muskets 
and  pistols  almost  in  his  face,  from  the  ports  of  the 
ram,  and  from  the  hundred  small  arms  on  shore. 
Several  of  his  men  were  injured,  and  Paymaster 
Swann  had  fallen  severely  wounded.  The  officers 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAYY.  57 

and  crew  of  the  Albemarle  cried  out :  '  Now  we've 
got  him!  Surrender!  surrender!  or  we  will  blow  you 
to  pieces  !  '  The  case  looked  desperate,  indeed ;  but 
Lieutenant  Gushing  was  as  cool  and  determined  at 
that  moment  as  one  could  be  under  the  most  agree 
able  circumstances.  He  knew  that  the  decisive  mo 
ment  had  come,  and  he  did  not  allow  it  to  glide  from 
his  hands.  He  seized  the  lanyard  to  the  torpedo  and 
the  line  of  the  spar,  and  crowding  the  spar  until 
he  brought  the  torpedo  under  the  over-hang  of  the 
Albemarle,  he  detached  it  by  one  effort,  and  the  next 
second  he  pulled  the  lanyard  of  the  torpedo,  and  ex 
ploded  it  under  the  vessel  on  her  port  side,  just  below 
the  port-hole  of  the  two-hundred-pounder  Brooke's 
rifle,  which  at  that  moment  was  discharged  at  the 
boat.  An  immense  volume  of  water  was  thrown  out 
by  the  explosion  of  the  torpedo,  almost  drowning  all 
in  the  steam-launch ;  and  to  add  to  the  peril  of  the 
moment,  the  heavy  shell  from  the  enemy's  gun  had 
gone  through  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  knocking  the 
splinters  about  in  a  terrible  style.  She  at  at  once 
began  to  sink  in  the  most  rapid  manner,  and  Lieuten 
ant  Gushing  ordered  all  hands  to  save  themselves  as 
best  they  might.  He  divested  himself  of  his  coat 
and  shoes,  and  plunged  into  the  river,  followed  by 
those  of  his  men  who  were  able  to  do  so.  All  struck 
for  the  middle  of  the  river  under  a  hot  fire  of  mus 
ketry,  the  balls  perforating  their  clothing  and  striking 
all  about  them,  and  in  two  or  three  instances,  it  is 
feared,  so  badly  wounding  the  swimmers  that  they 
3* 


58  REMINISCENCES    OF    TWO    YEARS 

sunk  before  boats  from  shore  could  reach  them. 
Lieutenant  Gushing  heard  the  rebels  take  to  boats  and 
push  after  the  survivors,  demanding  their  surrender. 
Many  gave  up,  but  two  of  his  seamen  were  drowned 
near  by  him — whether  from  wounds  received  or  ex 
haustion,  he  could  not  state.  Paymaster  Swann  was 
wounded  and  is  a  prisoner ;  but  how  many  others  fell 
into  the  rebel  hands  has  not  as  yet  been  ascertained. 
Lieutenant  Gushing  swam  down  the  river  half  a  mile, 
until,  exhausted  and  chilled  by  the  cold  water,  he  was 
compelled  to  struggle  to  the  shore,  which  he  reached 
about  daybreak.  After  lying  in  the  weeds  along  the 
river  bank  for  some  time,  he  recovered  his  strength 
sufficiently  to  crawl  into  the  swamp  further,  till  day 
light  found  him  lying  in  the  swamp  grass,  between 
two  paths,  and  in  speaking  distance  of  the  enemy's 
fort.  While  lying  there  but  partially  screened  by  the 
low  sedge,  he  saw  rebel  officers  and  men  walk  by, 
and  heard  their  conversation,  which  was  entirely  de 
voted  to  the  affair  of  the  morning.  From  their  re 
marks  he  learned  that  the  torpedo  had  done  its  work 
effectively  and  thoroughly,  and  that  his  great  object 
was  accomplished.  He  did  not  learn  any  of  the  de 
tails  of  the  sinking,  but  heard  it  stated  that  the  ram 
had  gone  down  by  her  dock,  and  was  a  complete  loss. 
He  also  learned  of  the  capture  of  the  paymaster  and 
some  others  of  his  crew  from  the  same  source. 

"Finding  that  there  was  great  danger  of  his  detec 
tion  if  he  remained  in  his  exposed  position  all  day, 
lying  within  a  few  yards  of  two  frequented  paths,  and 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES    NAVY.  59 

so  near  the  river,  he  began  to  move  slowly  away 
towards  the  swamp.  He  was  obliged  to  move  cau 
tiously,  so  he  lay  on  his  back,  and  by  pushing  his 
heels  into  the  ground,  he  slowly  pushed  himself 
along,  and  after  a  long  and  exhausting  effort,  passed 
over  the  sixty  yards  of  ground  that  lay  between  him 
and  better  cover.  Once  concealed,  he  laid  up  for  the 
day  and  rested  himself.  He  was  fortunate  enough 
before  midnight  to  get  hold  of  a  negro,  whom  he  sent 
into  town  to  learn  the  extent  of  his  success.  The 
negro  obeyed  his  instructions,  and  reported  that  the 
Albemarle  was  out  of  sight — '  clar  gone  sunk.' 

"At  night,  Lieutenant  Gushing  struck  through  the 
swamp,  and  after  the  greatest  and  most  exhausting 
toil  and  pain — as  he  was  in  his  stocking-feet,  and  con 
tinually  plunging  over  roots,  briers,  logs,  oyster-shells, 
and  lacerating  his  flesh  severely — he  reached  a  point 
four  miles  below  the  town,  where  he  discovered  a 
skiff  used  by  a  picket.  Watching  his  chance,  he 
seized  this,  and,  with  a  single  paddle,  paddled  off  to 
the  squadron,  four  miles  distant,  which  he  reached  in 
safety.  Only  one  besides  himself — William  Holton, 
a  sailor  on  the  Chicopee,  who  had  volunteered  on  the 
occasion — returned  to  the  squadron.  He  was  picked 
up  by  the  Valley  City,  the  following,  day,  nearly  ex 
hausted. 

"Lieutenant  Gushing  immediately  came  here  on 
the  special  despatch-boat  Valley  City,  and  reported  to 
Admiral  D.  D.  Porter.  To-night  he  will  go  to  Wash 
ington  and  report  to  the  Department.  He  is  worn 


6O  REMINISCENCES    OF   TWO   YEARS 

out  and  in  need  of  rest,  which  we  hope  he  will  be 
permitted  to  enjoy. 

"This  last  brave  and  gallant  action  of  his  is  likely 
to  gain  him  an  advance  of  one  grade  in  his  rank,  and 
it  will  also,  if  the  law  is  rightly  construed,  be  a  great 
financial  success,  which  is  somewhat  more  substantial. 
His  share  of  the  prize-money  from  the  Albemarle,  if 
she  is  fairly  placed  at  a  valuation,  would  be  in  the 
neighborhood  of  fifty  thousand  dollars,  an  acceptable 
sum  to  any  one.  Lieutenant  Gushing  has  been  or 
dered  to  the  command  of  the  gun-boat  Monticello, 
which  will  await  him  until  his  return  from  a  short 
leave. 

"The  destruction  of  the  Albemarle  will  release  the 
large  squadron  of  powerful  light-draught  vessels 
which  have,  since  her  debut  last  May,  been  maintained 
in  the  Sound.  They  can  go  elsewhere  now. 

"  On  a  reconnoissance  by  the  Valley  City,  to  within 
a  mile  of  Plymouth,  it  was  discovered  that  the  enemy 
had  sunk  the  schooners  which  were  engaged  in  at 
tempting  to  raise  the  Southfield,  directly  across  the 
channel,  thus  temporarily  blockading  the  river.  Al 
though  the  town  was  in  sight,  not  a  trace  could  be 
seen  of  the  rebel  ram ;  and  it  is  proved  in  other 
ways,  beyond  a  doubt,  that  she  lies  in  thirty  feet  of 
water,  from  which  it  will  be  impossible  to  raise  her 
again. 

"Captain  Walley,  who  had  assumed  command  of 
the  ship  only  three  weeks  ago — relieving  Captain 
Cook,  who  commanded  her  in  the  action  of  May  last 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  6 1 

—began  his  duties  in  a  very  bombastic  style.  He 
mustered  his  officers  and  men,  and  assured  them  that 
in  three  weeks  he  could  again  attack  the  enemy  and 
sink  and  scatter  his  fleet,  and  then  he  would  re-take 
Newbern  and  drive  the  Yankees  from  every  foot  of 
North  Carolina  soil.  With  the  Albemarle  and  their 
aid,  with  the  co  operation  of  the  gallant  army,  he 
would,  before  the  new  year,  regenerate  the  state,  and 
leave  not  a  trace  of  a  Yankee  within  its  borders. 

"  It  is  not  improbable  that  he  might  have  effected  a 
good  deal  of  damage,  and  perhaps  have  endangered 
for  the  time  being  our  tenure  of  Newbern  and  Roanoke 
Island,  as  he  was  nearly  ready  for  his  raid.  Thanks, 
however,  to  the  gallant  Gushing  and  his  brave  com 
rades,  through  whose  coolness,  courage,  and  skill  the 
co2ip  de  main  was  so  admirably  administered  to  the 
mailed  monster,  all  danger  has  passed,  and  another 
destructive  blow  has  been  given  to  the  declining  rebel 
navy. 

"A  meed  of  credit  and  praise  should  be  awarded  to 
Chief  Engineer  William  W.  W.  Wood,  of  the  navy,  to 
whose  inventive  abilities  and  experience  in  submarine 
warfare  we  owe  the  contrivance  of  the  torpedo  and  the 
successful  arrangement  by  which  it  is  handled  and 
exploded.  The  one  fired  by  Lieutenant  Gushing  con 
tained  but  fifty  pounds  of  powder;  but  it  did  its  work 
to  a  charm.  There  was  no  chance  of  its  failing  in 
his  hands.  The  entire  arrangement  is  exceedingly 
ingenious,  and  it  would  be  manifestly  improper  to 
describe  at  this  time. 


62  REMINISCENCES    OF   TWO   YEARS 

"  The  cutters  of  the  Shamrock,  we  omitted  to  men 
tion,  captured  four  rebel  soldiers  on  picket  on  the 
Southfield,  and  brought  them  along  safely  to  the 
squadron. 

"  THE  ALBEMARLE. 

"The  Albemarle  was  an  iron-clad  vessel,  similar  in 
general  features  to  the  Merrimac  and  Tennessee,  but 
much  stronger.  It  is  said  her  iron  mail  was  twelve 
inches  in  thickness,  and  backed  by  several  feet  of  solid 
timber.  She  was  armed  with  two  two  hundred 
pound  Brooke's  rifles,  and  was  perfectly  shot-proof. 
Her  weak  point  proved  to  be  below.  She  could  have 
been  captured  only  by  ramming,  and  for  that  purpose 
much  heavier  vessels  were  needed  than  any  that  could 
be  got  into  the  Sound.  The  torpedo  was  the  only 
means  of  destroying  her,  and  that  proved  successful 
when  tried. 

"The  Albemarle  is  probably  the  last  formidable 
vessel  that  the  rebels  have  in  the  inland  waters  of 
North  Carolina,  and  they  will  hardly  have  an  oppor 
tunity  of  building  more." 

"THE  HERO  OF  THE  ALBEMARLE  IN  WASHINGTON. 
"WASHINGTON,  Nov.  2,  1864. 

"Lieutenant  Gushing  arrived  here  to-day,  bringing 
with  him  the  official  report  of  the  particulars  attend 
ing  his  destruction  of  the  rebel  ram  Albemarle.  This 
act  relieves  all  the  sounds  of  North  Carolina  from 
floating  enemies,  and  thus  leaves  them  free  to  the 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  63 

operations  of  our  fleet.  Lieutenant  Gushing  is  a  citi- 
izen  of,  and  was  appointed  from,  the  State  of  New 
York.  He  is  satisfied  that  a  large  number  of  lives 
must  have  been  lost  by  the  blowing  up,  as  the  Albe- 
marle's  guns  were  all  manned.  The  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  will  recommend  to  Congress  a  vote  of  thanks, 
and  he  will  be  promoted  to  a  Lieutenant  Com 
mander." 

After  landing  Captain  Wm.  B.  Cushing  aboard  the 
flag-ship  of  the  fleet,  the  Valley  City  the  same  day, 
at  2^  p.  m.,  weighed  anchor,  and  proceeded  to  Nor 
folk,  Va.,  and  from  thence  to  the  United  States  Navy 
Yard  at  Gosport,  Va.,  and  was  put  the  on  the  dry  dock 
for  repairs.  After  the  repairs  of  the  Valley  City  were 
finished,  on  Sunday,  November  27,  at  4^  p.  m.,  we 
got  under  weigh,  and  arrived  at  Hampton  Roads,  Va., 
at  6^  o'clock  p.  m.  On  Monday,  November  28th, 
at  1 1  y2  o'clock,  a.  m.,  we  weighed  anchor,  and  arrived 
at  Hatteras  Inlet  at  9^  o'clock  a.  m.,  Tuesday,  No 
vember  29.  At  2  o'clock  a.  m.,  on  Wednesday,  No 
vember  30,  the  Valley  City  arrived  at  Plymouth,  and 
at  3^/2  o'clock  of  the  same  morning  the  Valley  City 
was  ordered  to  Newbern:  we  weighed  anchor  and 
proceeded  towards  Newbern.  We  arrived  at  Roanoke 
Island  at  nj£  o'clock  a.  m.  Our  orders  were  then 
countermanded,  and  at  2  p.  m.  the  Valley  City  steamed 
towards  Plymouth,  where  we  arrived  at  10.  p  m. 

During  the  month  of  November,  1864,  whilst  the 
Valley  City  was  absent  at  Norfolk,  the  remainder  of 


64  REMINISCENCES    OF    TWO    YEARS 

the  fleet,  commanded  by  Commander  Wm.  H. 
Macomb,  steamed  up  the  Roanoke  river,  then  across 
through  Middle  river,  and  then  up  the  Cashie  river 
to  Roanoke  river,  down  which  it  steamed  and  made  an 
attack  on  Plymouth,  which,  after  a  hot  action,  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  Federals.  The  ram  Albemarle  was 
soon  afterwards  raised  by  the  United  States  govern 
ment. 

On  Thursday,  December  I,  I  went  ashore  at  Ply 
mouth,  and  observed  the  ram  Albemarle  as  she  lay  at 
the  bottom  of  the  river.  At  12:15  p.  m->  we  left  Ply 
mouth,  and  arrived  at  off  Edenton  at  2  p.  m.,  and  at 
4  p.  m.,  the  Valley  City  weighed  anchor  for  Roanoke 
Island,  where  we  arrived  at  8  o'clock,  a.  m.,  December 
2,  and  at  9^  o'clock  p.  m.  the  Valley  City  left 
Roanoke  Island,  arrived  at  Newbern  at  I  o'clock  p.  m., 
Saturday,  December  3d ;  Sunday,  December  4,  I 
attended  church  at  Newbern. 

Monday,  December  5,  I  visited  the  graves  of  Cap 
tain  Charles  W.  Flusserand  Acting  Assistant-Surgeon 
George  W.  Wilson.  The  latter  died  after  two  hours' 
sickness,  of  yellow  fever.  He  was  stationed,  at  the 
time,  on  the  United  States  steamer  Hetzel,  off  New 
bern,  and  was  the  surgeon  of  that  vessel  when  he 
contracted  the  disease.  He  was  a  young  man,  and 
was  expecting  soon  to  return  North  and  visit  his  aged 
parents,  and  also  a  betrothed  young  lady.  They 
waited,  but  he  never  came. 

On  Tuesday,  December  6th,  at  4  o'clock  p.  m^  we 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  65 

left  Nevvbern,  with  Commander  W.  H.  Macomb  and 
his  son  on  board,  and  on  Wednesday,  December  7, 
at  8y£  o'clock  a.  m.,  we  arrived  off  Roanoke  Island. 
The  Valley  City  left  Roanoke  Island  at  12  o'clock  m., 
and  arrived  at  Plymouth  at  10  p.  m.  On  Thursday, 
December  8,  at  \2l/2  o'clock  p.  m.,  we  left  Plymouth 
and  arrived  at  Edenton  at  2^  o'clock  p.  m.  We  left 
Edenton  at  8  o'clock  p.  m.,  and  anchored  at  10  o'clock 
p.  m.,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Roanoke  river,  where  the 
U.  S.  steamer  Ceres  and  a  schooner  were  anchored. 
On  Friday,  December  9,  at  9  o'clock  a.  m.,  the  Val 
ley  City  weighed  anchor  and  proceeded  to  Plymouth, 
where  she  arrived  at  10  o'clock  a.  m. 

RAINBOW    BLUFF. 

HOW  A  FLEET  WENT  UP  THE  ROANOKE  AND  CAME  DOWN  AGAIN. 

In  the  fall  of  1864,  when  General  U.  S.  Grant  was 
shortening  his  lines  around  Petersburg,  it  was  his 
policy  to  have  every  man,  both  in  the  army  and  navy, 
employed,  in  order  to  draw  off  as  many  as  possible  from 
General  Lee's  forces  at  Petersburg.  Accordingly,  for 
the  purpose  of  capturing  Rainbow  Bluff,  the  fleet 
composed  of  the  United  States  steamers  Wyalusing, 
Otsego,  General  Berry,  Bazeley,  Valley  City,  Chicopee, 
tug  Belle,  and  the  picket  launch  No.  5,  weighed 
anchor  at  5  p.  m.,  December  9,  1864,  and  proceeded 
up  the  Roanoke  river,  with  Commander  W.  H. 
Macomb  on  board  the  Wyalusing  leading,  the  Valley 
City  second,  and  the  Otsego  third,  followed  by  the 


66  REMINISCENCES    OF    TWO    YEARS 

Chicopee,  Bazeley,  General  Berry,  tug  Belle,  and  the 
steam  launch  No.  5. 

Commander  Macomb  was  informed  by  what  he 
supposed  was  reliable  authority  that  there  were  no 
torpedoes  in  the  river  from  Plymouth  to  above  James- 
ville,  twelve  miles  up  the  river.  A  fortunate  occur 
rence  for  the  Valley  City  took  place  on  our  passage  to 
Jamesville.  The  engine  of  the  Valley  City  gave  out, 
and  the  engineer  slowed  up  and  repaired  the  damage, 
the  Otsego  in  the  meantime  passing  on  ahead.  By 
this  circumstance  the  Valley  City  became  third,  and 
the  Otsego  second.  We  arrived  off  Jamesville  about 
9  p.  m.  The  Wyalusing  signaled  the  fleet  to  come  to 
anchor,  and  just  as  the  fleet  was  slowing  up  previously 
to  anchoring,  we  heard  a  loud  report,  the  concussion 
of  which  shook  the  Valley  City,  which  was  a  short 
distance  off,  as  if  there  were  an  earthquake  in  the 
locality.  Presently  it  was  reported  that  the  Otsego 
was  lost,  two  torpedoes,  one  before  and  the  other  aft, 
striking  her  simultaneously,  and  sinking  her  to  the 
bottom  of  the  river.  From  some  fortunate  occurrence, 
the  Wyalusing  had  passed  safely  over  the  place  where 
the  Otsego  was  blown  up. 

On  the  following  day,  December  10,  there  was 
found  to  be  a  perfect  nest  of  torpedoes  in  the  river  off 
Jamesville,  and  while  passing  near  by  the  wreck  of  the 
Otsego,  the  Bazeley  was  blown  literally  to  pieces,  Cap 
tain  Aimes,  in  command  of  her,  and  the  pilot  and  also 
paymaster,  Louis  Sands,  of  the  Shamrock,  were  in  the 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  6/ 

pilot-house  at  the  time  the  explosion  took  place,  and 
were  blown  with  the  pilot-house  about  thirty  feet  into 
the  air,  and  alighted  in  the  river  unhurt.  William  C. 
Rossell,  a  lad,  and  John  Gerrard,  first-class  boy,  were 
killed.  Captain  Aimes  then  immediately  reported  to 
Commander  Macomb  that  "  the  Bazeley  is  gone  up," 
but  by  that  time  she  had  gone  down. 

The  Roanoke  river,  from  Jamesville  to  Poplar 
point,  a  distance  of  thirty  miles,  was  dredged  for  tor 
pedoes.  In  all,  in  the  river  between  these  two  points, 
the  dredging  party  took  up  and  exploded  eighty  tor 
pedoes.  From  Jamesville  on,  the  Valley  City  took 
the  lead,  having  previously  rigged  a  torpedo-fender 
on  her  bow.  The  river  was  dredged  by  means  of  six 
boats'  crews,  each  two  of  which  were  paired,  rowing 
about  twenty  feet  apart,  with  a  chain  suspended  be 
tween  them,  dragging  along  the  bottom  of  the  river. 
Each  torpedo  was  anchored  at  the  bottom  of  the 
river  by  means  of  a  rope,  one  end  of  which  was  tied 
to  the  torpedo,  the  other  end  to  a  staple  fastened  in 
the  centre  of  the  surface  of  a  hemisphere  of  iron  six 
inches  in  diameter,  resting  at  the  bottom  of  the  river. 
The  rope  was  sufficiently  long  to  float  the  torpedo 
just  beneath  the  surface  of  the  water.  The  torpedoes 
were  made  of  tin,  each  about  eighteen  inches  long 
and  ten  inches  in  diameter,  and  divided  into  two  sep 
arate  apartments,  one  for  air,  the  other  for  powder. 
Through  the  centre  of  each  torpedo,  running  longi 
tudinally,  there  was  an  iron  bar  placed,  extending  be- 


68  REMINISCENCES    OF    TWO   YEARS 

yond  each  end.  On  the  upper  end  there  was  a  spring 
trigger,  which  was  held  by  a  light  iron  cross  bar,  in 
geniously  attached  to  the  longitudinal  bar,  so  arranged 
that  from  the  lightest  touch  it  would  fall  off,  letting 
the  trigger  fall  on  the  upper  part  of  the  torpedo, 
striking  a  percussion  cap  immediately  underneath  it 
in  the  powder  chamber,  thus  exploding  the  torpedo. 

The  boats  were  protected  as  much  as  possible  by 
the  Valley  City  following  close  after,  watching  the 
banks  of  the  river  on  either  side.  There  were  dykes 
on  each  side  of  the  river,  behind  which  in  the  under 
growth  the  rebels  often  lurked.  To  obviate  this, 
Commander  W.  H.  Macomb  ordered  the  marines  to 
march  a  short  distance  ahead  of  the  dredge-boats  on 
either  side  of  the  river ;  but  notwithstanding  this 
precaution,  the  men  in  the  dredge-boats  were  fired 
into,  and  several  were  either  wounded  or  killed  by 
the  sharpshooters.  Sometimes  the  marines  ashore 
would  be  driven  back.  The  farther  up  the  river  we 
proceeded,  the  more  numerous  the  rebels  became,  and 
the  more  our  difficulties  increased.  The  men  in  the 
dredge-boats  did  not  consider  the  place  a  very  safe 
one  by  any  means,  and  often  went  into  the  boats  with 
many  forebodings.  It  was  not  a  desirable  place  either 
on  the  Valley  City,  for  there  was  a  constant  dread  of 
torpedoes  below  and  sharpshooters  above. 

UP  AND  DOWN  THE  RIVER. 

The  'Valley  City  left  Jamesville  at  8  a.  m.,  Decem 
ber  12,  and  dredged  the  river,  as  I  have  described. 


IN    THE    UNITED   STATES    NAVY.  69 

In  the  evening  we  had  proceeded  a  few  miles  above 
Jamesville.  I  will  now  quote  as  I  have  it  in  my  diary, 
which  was  written  at  that  time. 

Tuesday,  December  13,  at  5:30  p.  m.,  we  were 
ordered  back  to  Jamesville  to  cover  the  army.  (I  will 
state  by  way  of  parenthesis  that  the  army  forces  at 
Plymouth,  commanded  by  Colonel  Frankle,  had 
promised  the  fleet  their  co-operation,  but  in  this  the 
fleet  was  disappointed.)  We  proceeded  down  the 
river  as  far  as  the  fleet,  when  our  orders  were  counter 
manded  and  we  returned  to  dredge  the  river.  The 
remainder  of  the  fleet  would  lay  at  anchor,  whilst  the 
dredging  party,  with  the  Valley  City,  would  proceed 
four  or  five  miles  up  the  river;  then  the  balance  of  the 
fleet  would  get  under  weigh  and  steam  up  to  the  Val 
ley  City,  and  then  come  to  an  anchor  again;  but  when 
the  rebels  commenced  to  thicken  in  the  woods  along 
the  river,  the  fleet  kept  together  behind  the  dredging 
party. 

Friday,  December  16. — We  have  been  dredging  the 
river,  and  have  advanced  to  within  a  short  distance  of 
Williamston.  At  12  m.  we  arrived  at  Williamston.  I 
went  ashore  at  this  place.  It  is  a  small  place  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Roanoke  river — the  ground  rising 
gently  from  the  river  to  the  rear  of  the  town.  The 
houses  are  built  of  frame,  and  very  much  scattered. 
A  family  I  visited  there  showed  me  a  hole  in  their 
house  made  by  a  Federal  shell  passing  through  it. 
One  of  the  inmates  of  the  house  had  been  sitting  in  a 
chair  in  a  room  in  the  line  of  the  shell,  and  just  a  rno- 


7<D  REMINISCENCES    OF   TWO    YEARS 

ment  before  the  shell  came  crashing  through  the 
house  the  lady  went  into  an  adjoining  room,  thus 
escaping.  The  chair  in  which  she  had  been  sitting 
was  knocked  to  atoms.  At  I  p.  m.  we  left  Williams- 
ton,  and  at  5  p.  m.  we  anchored. 

Saturday,  December  17. — We  lay  at  anchor  all  day. 
In  the  morning  I  was  astonished  to  see  a  hog  swim 
across  the  Roanoke  river  immediately  in  front  of  us, 
because  I  have  always  heard  it  said  that  swine  will  not 
swim.  This  was  the  first  and  only  hog  I  ever  saw  swim. 
At  1 1  a.  m.  I  went  ashore  to  where  an  old  man  lived ; 
he  was  covered  with  rags,  and  lived  in  a  secluded  spot 
close  by  the  water's  edge.  He  had  no  family  but  a 
little  boy  about  eleven  years  of  age.  There  was  not 
even  a  cow  or  horse  to  be  seen — everything  around 
him  betokened  distress  and  misery.  I  asked  him  how 
long  he  had  been  living  here.  He  replied,  "  I  have 
been  living  here  six  years."  I  then  asked  him  if  he 
enjoyed  this  sort  of  life.  He  answered,  "  No."  I 
asked  him  if  he  had  an  education.  He  said,  "  I  can 
neither  read  nor  write."  I  then  asked  if  he  intended 
to  give  his  son  an  education.  He  replied  that  before 
the  war  he  had  intended  to  give  his  son  an  education, 
but  now  times  were  so  hard  that  it  was  barely  possi 
ble  for  him  to  get  sufficient  to  eat.  After  bidding  him 
farewell,  I  returned  aboard. 

Sunday,  December  18. — At  2  p.  m.  we  got  under 
weigh  to  dredge  the  river.  At  5  p.  m.  we  anchored 
for  the  night.  The  nights  are  dark  and  foggy,  and 
the  rebel  musketeers  and  sharpshooters  frequently 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  /I 

come  up  under  cover  of  the  darkness  behind  the 
dykes,  and  give  us  a  wholesome  dose  from  their 
rifles;  but  they  are  soon  hurled  back  again  by  a  dose 
of  grape  from  our  guns.  During  the  nights,  to  pre 
vent  floating  torpedoes  coming  down  the  river,  small 
boats  or  skiffs  that  we  had  captured  from  the  enemy 
were  tied  in  line  across  the  river  above  the  fleet. 

Monday,  December  20. — The  launches  that  have 
been  dredging  the  river  have  been  fired  into,  and  Act 
ing  Master  Wells  and  two  men  of  the  Chicopee 
were  wounded.  This  event  caused  the  rowers  to  be 
come  so  much  panic-stricken  that  they  dropped  their 
oars,  lay  down  in  the  botton  of  the  launches,  and  al 
lowed  their  boats  to  float  down  with  the  current.  It 
was  with  much  difficulty  that  Captain  J.  A.  J.  Brooks, 
by  calling  to  them  from  the  Valley  City,  could  get 
them  aroused ;  but  finally  they  came  alongside.  We, 
however,  kept  on  dredging  the  river  till  we  came  to 
a  point  in  the  Roanoke  river,  where  we  anchored. 
The  river  at  this  point  where  the  fleet  is  anchored 
makes  a  bend  like  that  of  a  horseshoe.  The  ground 
on  the  inside  of  the  bend,  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
river,  is  low  and  level,  and  covered  with  young  sap 
lings  or  undergrowth.  At  the  heels  of  this  horse 
shoe  bend  ran  a  high  ridge,  covered  partly  with  pop 
lar  trees  and  partly  with  white-oak  trees.  The  fleet 
lay  on  the  Plymouth  stretch  of  the  river,  or  near 
stretch,  and  at  the  end  of  the  far  stretch  where  the 
river  runs  under  the  high  bluff,  the  rebels,  as  we  as 
certained  afterwards,  had  fortified  with  artillery,  and 


?2  REMINISCENCES  OF   TWO   YEARS 

an  army  said  to  be  ten  thousand  strong.  We  did  not 
then  suspect  we  would  find  the  rebels  in  force,  till  we 
got  to  Rainbow  Bluff.  This*  place  was  known  by  the 
name  of  Poplar  Point. 

All  the  fleet  was  at  anchor,  and  had  been  since  3 
o'clock  p.  m..  The  day  was  beautiful.  The  fish  were 
nibbling  at  pieces  of  hard  tack  which  had  been  thrown 
overboard  by  the  sailors.  The  current  of  the  river 
rushed  swiftly  past,  making  the  rudder  flap  in  the 
water.  The  men  were  lounging  about  on  the  berth 
deck,  resting.  The  cook  was  preparing  supper,  the 
messenger  boys  were  carrying  victuals  from  the  galley 
to  the  ward-room,  and  placing  them  on  the  table.  The 
officer  of  the  deck  was  pacing  to  and  fro  on  the  star 
board  side  of  the  vessel.  Captain  Brooks  was  in  his 
cabin.  Many  of  the  officers  were  in  the  ward-room. 
All  else  was  quiet.  I  was  pacing  the  port  side  of  the 
Valley  City.  Pilot  John  A.  Lewis  was  standing  on  the 
after  hatchway,  a  little  above  the  gun- deck  amidships. 
As  I  approached  him  in  walking  from  the  bow  of  the 
vessel  towards  him,  I  said  to  him,  "Pilot,  what  do 
you  think  of  the  prospect  of  getting  to  Rainbow 
Bluff?  "  He  .replied,  "  I  think  we  will  get  there  by 
and  by,  if  we  have  patience  and  the  rebels  don't  blow 
us  up."  Just  as  I  was  turning  to  pace  to  the  bow  of 
the  Valley  City,  I  heard  a  report  ashore  like  that  of  a 
number  of  barrels  of  fire-crackers  exploding.  Simul 
taneously  with  this  explosion,  I  heard  the  zipping  of 
bullets  in  the  air  close  to  my  head,  and  striking  the 
bulwarks  of  the  vessel  close  by  me.  Then  artillery 
fire  commenced. 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  73 

In  the  meantime  three  loud  and  prolonged  rattles 
were  sprung  by  the  officer  of  the  deck,  calling  all  hands 
to  quarters.  I  ran  down  the  forward  hatchway  and 
through  the  berth-deck  to  the  dispensary,  which  was 
my  station,  and  which  was  just  in  front  of  the  boiler 
on  the  berth-deck,  and  at  the  foot  of  the  steps  of  the 
hatchway  on  which  John  A.  Lewis  was  standing  when 
the  firing  commenced.  He  was  passed  down  to  me, 
killed  by  a  bullet  from  a  sharp-shooter,  passing 
through  his  head  from  ear  to  ear.  John  A.  Lewis  was 
pilot  of  the  ill-fated  Otsego,  and  had  been  ordered 
aboard  the  Valley  City  for  general  duty  after  the 
sinking  of  that  vessel.  At  the  time  that  pilot  John  A. 
Lewis  was  killed,  I  had  my  full  officer's  uniform  on, 
but  he  had  on  a  blouse  and  soft  felt  hat.  I  felt  certain 
at  the  time  that  the  ball  that  killed  John  A.  Lewis 
was  intended  for  me,  as  I  was  nearly  in  line  of  the 
shot. 

The  rebels  made  it  pretty  warm  for  us  from  5  to  9 
o'clock  p.  m.  The  Valley  City  was  struck  three 
times  with  shell,  and  fired  *one  "hundred  and  thirty-six 
shots.  One  of  the  shells  that  struck  the  Valley  City 
came  into  a  lamp-closet  just  over  my  head  and  near 
the  end  of  the  boiler,  but.  did  not  explode.  An  old 
sailor  sitting  near  by  where  I  was  standing,  upon  see 
ing  the  ceiling  broken  above  my  head,  said,  "Don't 
be  alarmed;  lightning  nor  shells  never  strike  twice 
in  the  same  place."  Another  shell  went  crashing 
through  the  ward- room,  down  through  an  old  family 
4 


74  REMINISCENCES    OF   TWO   YEARS 

Bible  (which  Acting  Ensign  Milton  Webster  had 
captured  ashore),  and  then  out  of  the  ward-room 
through  a  passage-way  in  which  some  negroes  off  the 
Ostego  were  lying  concealed,  killing  them,  and  then 
exploding  in  the  river.  In  the  meantime,  the  re 
mainder  of  the  fleet  kept  up  a  constant  fire. 

During  the  battle,  Acting  Ensign  Milton  Webster 
performed  some  acts  of  daring,  by  taking  the  end  of 
a  hawser  in  a  cutter,  manned  by  negroes,  ashore,  and 
making  it  fast  to  a  tree,  under  a  shower  of  bullets  and 
shells.  The  cutter  was  pierced  several  times  with 
bullets,  but  nobody  in  it  was  hurt.  The  hawser  was 
made  fast  to  the  tree  for  the  purpose  of  drawing  the 
stern  of  the  Valley  City  around  so  as  to  bring  her 
guns  to  bear  on  the  enemy. 

After  a  brisk  fire  from  the  fleet  for  four  hours,  the 
rebels  ceased  firing,  but  annoyed  the  fleet  during  the 
night  by  squads  of  infantry  firing  from  behind  the 
dykes  and  then  running  away.  It  was  dangerous  to 
have  a  light  aboard  the  vessel,  and  we  were  there 
fore  compelled  to  take  our  suppers  as  best  we  could 
in  the  dark. 

Tuesday,  December  20. — We  are  engaged  in  bury 
ing  the  dead  and  skirmishing  with  the  enemy,  the 
rebels  with  their  accustomed  barbarity  firing  on  the 
burying  party.  We  were  annoyed  all  day  by  the 
sharpshooters  and  batteries  of  the  enemy,  but  con 
tinued  to  hold  our  own  and  to  keep  the  enemy  back. 

On    Wednesday,    December   21,    the   Valley  City 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES    NAVY.  75 

weighed  anchor  at  2:10  o'clock  p.  m.  The  Confeder 
ates  were  firing  musketry  at  the  Wyalusing.  At  2:40 
p.  m.  the  Valley  City  steamed  ahead,  around  the  turn 
which  opened  up  the  far  stretch  of  the  river.  This 
stretch  of  the  river  was  covered  by  rebel  artillery. 
The  Valley  City  had  scarcely  showed  her  bow  around 
the  turn,  till  she  received  a  severe  shot  from  the 
rebel  batteries,  which  plunged  diagonally  through  the 
pilot-house,  which  was  lined  outside  with  half-inch 
iron,  knocking  off  the  door  thereto,  wounding  three 
men — the  pilot  John  A.  Wilson,  Charles  Hall,  and 
John  Wood:  the  latter  two  were  mortally  wounded. 
The  Valley  City  immediately  dropped  out  of  range  of 
said  battery,  and  came  to  anchor  at  3:05  p.  m.  In 
the  evening  the  fleet  dropped  farther  down  on  the 
near  stretch  of  the  river.  The  Valley  City  lost  her 
torpedo-fender. 

December  22. — Last  night  we  were  again  annoyed 
by  musketry  and  sharpshooters  ashore.  During  the 
day,  after  burying  the  dead,  the  Valley  City  dropped 
down  below  the  fleet  to  arrange  on  her  bows  another 
torpedo-fender.  About  2:20  p.  m.  we  heard  loud 
whistling  from  steam  launch  No.  5,  which  was  bring 
ing  up  the  mail  from  Plymouth.  I  was  standing  on 
the  poop-deck,  and  through  the  bushes  on  the  flat  on 
the  inside  of  the  bend  I  saw  a  regiment  of  rebels 
running  towards  the  launch,  at  the  same  time  keep 
ing  up  a  rapid  fire  at  her.  The  Valley  City  dropped 
her  torpedo-fender,  steamed  down,  and  after  firing  a 
few  shots  of  grape  at  the  rebels,  they  retreated.  In 


76  REMINISCENCES   OF  TWO   YEARS 

the  meantime,  Commander  W.  H.  Macomb  learned 
that  the  rebels  had  been  removing  their  batteries  that 
commanded  the  far  stretch  of  the  river  to  a  point 
below  us,  so  as  to  command  the  near  stretch,  and  if 
possible  prevent  our  returning  down  the  river,  and 
thereby  capture  the  fleet.  Matters  were  becoming 
desperate,  and  Commander  Macomb  therefore  deter 
mined  to  retreat  down  the  river.  The  Valley  City 
was  the  first  to  go  by  the  rebel  batteries,  the  remain 
der  of  the  fleet  keeping  up  a  rapid  fire  at  them.  The 
current  of  the  river  was  so  strong,  and  the  bend 
under  the  rebel  batteries  so  sharp,  that  the  Valley  City 
whirled  round  like  a  water-wheel,  first  striking  the  bow 
against  the  shore,  and  then  the  stern.  I  was  fearful 
we  might  be  boarded.  An  attempt  was  also  made  to 
fell  trees  on  the  fleet  whilst  passing.  After  the  Valley 
City  had  passed  safely  by  the  rebel  batteries,  she  came 
to  anchor,  trained  her  guns  on  the.  enemy,  and  in 
conjunction  with  the  remainder  of  the  fleet  above  the 
bend  of  the  river,  kept  up  a  rapid  fire  whilst  a  second 
vessel  passed ;  and  thus  one  vessel  of  the  fleet  after 
another  passed  safely  around  the  turn  of  the  river, 
under  fire  of  the  rebel  batteries. 

Commander  Macomb  now  gave  the  Valley  City 
orders  to  prceed  down  the  river  cautiously,  and  have 
the  river  dredged  in  our  rear.  For  a  short  distance 
Captain  J.  A.  J.  Brooks  had  the  men  in  cutters,  dredg 
ing  the  river ;  but  after  consulting  his  executive 
officer,  Milton  Webster,  Acting  Assistant  Paymaster 
J.  W.  Sands  and  myself,  as  to  the  propriety  of  steam- 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  77 

ing  down  the  river  without  dredging  it,  it  was  agreed 
upon  to  call  the  dredge-boats  in,  and  we  proceeded 
down  the  river,  shelling  the  woods  on  right  bank 
of  the  river  and  then  came  to  an  anchor  above  Wil- 
liamston. 

Friday,  December  23. — The  Valley  City  continued 
steaming  down  the  river,  and  anchored  off  Williams- 
ton  at  12  m.  At  I  p.  m.  she  weighed  anchor  and 
steamed  to  off  Jamesville,  where  she  arrived  at  5  p.  m., 
the  remainder  of  the  fleet  following  close  in  our  rear. 

On  Saturday,  December  24,  the  Valley  City  pro 
ceeded  two  miles  up  the  river  to  tug  the  Chicopee  ofF, 
which  had  got  transversely  across  the  river,  prevent 
ing  the  fleet  behind  her  from  descending.  The  Val 
ley  City  returned  and  anchored  off  Jamesville  at  10 
o'clock  a.  m.  The  fleet  is  all  now  anchored  off 
Jamesville,  and  is  engaged  in  destroying  the  wreck  of 
the  Otsego.  During  this  expedition  I  never  had  my 
clothes  or  shoes  off. 

On  Thursday,  December  29,  at  1 1  y2  o'clock  a.  m. 
the  Valley  City  weighed  anchor  and  proceeded  to 
Plymouth,  where  we  arrived  at  12^  p.  m. 

[Published  in  the  New  York  Herald  of  January  9,  1865.] 

NEWBERN. 

ADDITIONAL    DETAILS    OF   THE   EXPEDITION 

UP    ROANOKE    RIVER. 

THE  FLEET  REACHES  POPLAR  POINT. 
FROM  OUR  NEWBERN  (N.  C.)  CORRESPONDENT. 

NEWBERN,  N.  C.  DECEMBER  27,  1864. 
The  expedition  that  left  Plymouth,  N.  C.,  on  the 
9th  instant,  has  returned  and  anchored  off  Jamesville, 


78  REMINISCENCES    OF   TWO    YEARS 

Roanoke  river,  having  by  arduous  labor  accom 
plished  results  that  reflect  great  credit  upon  the  com 
manding  officer  and  his  subordinates. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  EXPEDITION. 

The  naval  portion  of  this  expedition  sailed  from 
Plymouth  on  the  evening  of  the  Qth  instant,  in  the 
following  order :  Wyalusing,  Lieutenant  Commander 
Earl  English,  bearing  the  broad  pennant  of  Com 
mander  W.  H.  Macomb,  commanding  the  fourth 
division  of  the  North  Atlantic  squadron;  Valley  City, 
Acting  Master  J.  A.  J.  Brooks;  Otsego,  Commander 
Arnold ;  Chicopee,  Commander  Hannell ;  Bazeley, 
Acting  Ensign  Aimes ;  tug  Belle,  Acting  Master 
Green;  and  the  picket  launch  No.  5,  Acting  Ensign 
Chapman.  The  Shamrock  was  to  follow. 

A  land  force  commanded  by  Colonel  Frankle  had 
started  from  Plymouth  at  daylight  the  same  morning, 
to  co-operate  with  the  fleet. 

THE  OTSEGO  DESTROYED  BY  A  TORPEDO. 

Without  interruption,  the  squadron  at  9  o'clock  the 
same  night  arrived  at  Jamesville,  a  small  town  above 
Plymouth  some  twelve  miles,  "when  the  signal  to 
anchor  was  made  from  the  flag-ship.  The  night  being 
dark,  and  the  river  flowing  rapidly  in  its  narrow  and 
tortuous  channel,  it  was  thought  best  to  proceed 
no  further  until  daylight.  The  Wyalusing  had  just 
let  go  her  anchor  a  few  yards  above  the  town,  when 
two  loud  reports  were  heard  astern,  and  dense  volumes 
of  smoke  and  steam  were  seen  to  envelop  the  Otsego. 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  79 

That  fine  vessel  had  struck  two  torpedoes,  one  under 
the  port  coal-bunker,  the  other  beneath  the  keelson, 
driving  a  large  hole  through  her  bottom,  and  throw 
ing  one  of  her  hundred-pounder  rifled  Parrotts  into 
the  air.  She  sank  in  fifteen  minutes  in  three  fathoms 
of  water,  being  a  complete  wreck.  Her  officers  and 
men  lost  all  their  clothing,  except  what  they  had  on 
at  the  moment  of  the  explosion,  but  were  cared  for  by 
their  comrades  of  the  other  vessels,  who  hurried  to 
their  rescue,  and  periled  their  own  lives  in  saving  their 
shipwrecked  fellow-sailors.  Commander  Arnold  be 
haved  with  great  coolness,  and  his  self-possession 
soon  restored  order  and  discipline  on  board  the 
sunken  ship,  or  rather  on  her  hurricane  deck,  which 
alone  remained  out  of  water. 

DESTRUCTION  OF  THE  BAZELEY. 

In  the  morning  orders  were  given  to  drag  for  torpe 
does,  when  it  was  found  that  the  Otsego  had  struck 
upon  a  perfect  nest  of  them.  The  boats  which  had 
been  passing  and  repassing  to  and  from  her  during 
the  night,  had  rowed  over  numbers  of  them,  happily 
without  touching  them.  Several  were  picked  up 
alongside  the  Otsego,  and  two  were  hanging  to  the 
torpedo-fender  rigged  at  her  bow.  The  steamer 
Bazeley  during  the  morning  was  ordered  to  run  down 
to  Plymouth,  to  convey  orders  and  dispatches,  taking 
on  board  for  that  purpose  Paymaster  Louis  Sands,  of 
the  Shamrock,  who  had  been  detailed  as  one  of  Com 
mander  Macomb's  aids  in  this  expedition.  On  her 


SO  REMINISCENCES    OF   TWO    YEARS 

way  down,  being  directed  to  communicate  with  the 
Otsego,  Captain  Aimes  ran  towards  the  sunken  vessel, 
when  a  torpedo  struck  the  Bazeley  under  the  pilot 
house,  blowing  a  hole  clear  through  her,  killing  Win. 
C.  Rossell,  a  lad,  and  John  Gerrard,  first-class  boy, 
and  sinking  the  ship  instantly.  The  officers  and  re 
mainder  of  the  crew  escaped  by  swimming,  and  were 
picked  up  by  boats.  Captain  Aimes,  upon  returning 
to  the  flagship,  thus  laconically  reported  his  loss  to 
Commander  Macomb :  "  Sir,  the  Bazeley  has  gone  up." 
The  destruction  of  two  of  our  vessels  so  quickly 
made  things  look  blue,  but  the  grit  and  metal  that 
headed  the  expedition  were  sufficient  to  overcome 
such  disasters. 

A  FRESH  START. 

Preparations  were  now  fully  carried  out  to  drag  the 
river  by  boats  for  the  torpedoes,  which  were  con 
stantly  found  in  the  richest  and  choicest  clusters,  in 
some  places  eight  or  nine  being  placed  across  the 
river  in  a  line,  and  having  susceptibilities  of  the  most 
sensitive  nature,  going  off  on  the  slightest  provocation. 
Communication  with  Plymouth  having  been  obtained, 
the  signal  was  made  to  advance,  the  Valley  City 
taking  the  lead. 

Mr.  Chamberlain,  a  civilian,  had  volunteered  to  go 
with  the  expedition  with  a  calcium  light,  which  proved 
to  be  of  great  advantage  to  the  fleet  in  the  intense 
darkness  of  the  nights.  The  light  was  placed  on  the 
leading  vessel,  and  made  our  pathway  as  clear  as 
broad  daylight. 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  8 1 

The  fleet  proceeded  slowly,  having  six  boats  con 
stantly  employed  in  dragging  and  picking  up  torpe 
does,  which  continued  to  be  found  in  great  profusion. 
Large  numbers  were  found  at  Shad  Island  Bend  and 
other  points,  and  many  exploded  in  the  attempt  made 
to  get  them  on  shore.  Eighty  were  taken  up  in  a 
distance  of  thirty  miles. 

LIVING    ON  THE  ENEMY. 

The  fleet  anchored  off  several  of  the  plantations 
along  the  river,  and  the  men  were  allowed  to  regale 
themselves  with  fresh  provisions  and  other  luxurious 
articles  that  were  contraband  of  war.  All  articles  of 
military  value  were  taken  or  destroyed,  and  a  quan 
tity  of  cotton  pressed  into  the  service  as  bulwarks 
against  the  sharpshooters  who  lined  the  banks  of  the 
stream.  Mr.  Speller,  a  rich  planter,  owning  a  place 
called  Speller's  Landing,  was  arrested  and  sent  to 
Plymouth.  He  had  accepted  a  nomination  to  a  seat 
in  the  rebel  Legislature,  had  three  sons  in  the  rebel 
army,  and  was  himself  a  bitter  reviler  and  opponent 
of  the  government.  Other  prominent  rebels  were  also 
seized  and  sent  to  Plymouth.  One  of  them  offered 
Commander  Macomb  and  Lieutenant  Commander 
English  a  large  amount  of  gold,  which  he  had  on  his 
person,  to  release  him;  but  like  Paulding  and  Van 
Wert  of  old,  the  patriotism  of  the  sailor  chiefs  revolted 
at  the  attempt  to  bribe  them,  and  an  order  to  place 
the  rebel  in  closer  confinement  was  the  only  result  of 
the  proposition.  Corruption  has  been  little  known  in 
this  war  among  our  naval  officers;  and  though  many 
4* 


82  REMINISCENCES    OF    TWO    YEARS 

of  them  are  far  from  wealthy,  their  honor  and  good 
name  are  more  precious  in  their  eyes  than  millions  of 
dishonorable  wealth. 

THE  OPERATIONS  OF  THE  ARMY. 

It  was  part  of  the  programme  that  Colonel  Frankle 
should  communicate  with  the  fleet  at  Jamesville;  but 
without  waiting  for  the  arrival  of  the  vessels,  he  pushed 
on  his  men  to  Foster's  Mills,  where  a  skirmish  ensued 
with  the  enemy,  who  were  repulsed.  The  mills  were 
burned,  and  Colonel  Clark  was  left  to  hold  the  place, 
while  the  main  body  proceeded  onward,  the  rebels 
retreating  on  Rainbow  Banks,  a  very  strong  and  com 
manding  position  on  the  river,  twenty  miles  above 
Williamston.  The  fleet  learned  the  news  by  one  of 
Colonel  Clark's  scouts,  and  the  next  day  one  of  our 
picket  boats,  which  had  been  sent  back  to  Jamesville, 
returned  to  the  fleet,  bringing  additional  intelligence 
that  the  army,  getting  out  of  provisions,  had  fallen 
back  to  Jamesville.  Commander  Macomb  sent  a  dis 
patch  to  Colonel  Frankle  commanding,  stating  that 
time  was  precious ;  that  the  fleet  would  proceed  at  all 
hazards,  and  would  turn  back  for  nothing  until  it 
reached  the  bluff;  and  urging  that  the  troops  should 
go  forward  at  once.  A  promise  was  returned  that  the 
troops  would  again  move  forward  in  a  short  time. 

THE  FLEET  APPROACHES   POPLAR  POINT. 

The  fleet  kept  on  its  way  for  several  days  more, 
dragging  the  river  at  every  step,  exploding  torpedoes, 
fighting  sharpshooters,  and  pressing  forward  toward 


IN    THE   UNITED   STATES    NAVY.  83 

Rainbow  Bluff;  until,  on  the  evening  of  the  2Oth,  we 
turned  a  bend  in  the  stream  exposing  to  view  Poplar 
Point,  a  high  bluff  thoroughly  commanding  the  river. 

THE  MARINES  ON  SHORE  DUTY. 

On  our  left,  after  doubling  the  bend,  was  a  large 
marshy  plain  protected  by  a  dyke,  behind  which 
sharpshooters  were  thought  to  be  lurking.  Com 
mander  Macomb  ordered  the  marines  of  the  squadron 
to  land,  and  under  command  of  Acting  Ensign  Fesset, 
of  the  Wyalusing,  to  move  along  the  bank,  behind  the 
levee,  and  look  out  for  the  enemy.  They  soon  found 
the  rebel  pickets  and  skirmished  with  them,  the  rebels 
being  driven  back  towards  the  point.  Soon  a  large 
body  of  rebels  was  found,  and  a  brisk  little  action  took 
place.  A  prisoner  being  captured  by  Sergeant  Kane, 
of  the  Shamrock,  belonging  to  Whitford's  rebel  regi 
ment,  reported  that  his  regiment  was  in  the  swamp,  as 
the  advance  of  the  rebels,  whose  entire  strength  was 
some  six  thousand  men.  The  marines  continued  the 
skirmishing  until  nightfall,  when  they  were  recalled, 
having  throughout  the  day  behaved  admirably,  re 
taining  the  good  reputation  which  that  branch  of  the 
service  has  always  held. 

THE  VALLEY  CITY  ENCOUNTERS  A  BATTERY. 

No  sooner  had  the  Valley  City,  which  continued 
to  be  the  leading  vessel,  shown  her  head  around  the 
point,  than  she  was  saluted  by  a  battery  which  the 
rebels  had  placed  there  so  skillfully  as  to  give  them 
accurate  and  deadly  aim.  She  replied  with  great 


84  REMINISCENCES    OF   TWO   YEARS 

effect,  and  silenced  the  battery  ;  but  night  fell,  and 
the  firing  ceased.  During  the  night  all  the  vessels 
were  annoyed  by  the  rebels,  who  would  sneak  up 
under  cover  of  the  trees,  fire  a  volley  upon  our  decks, 
and  skedaddle,  their  retreat  being  often  accelerated  by 
a  wholesome  dose  of  grape.  During  the  day  the  Val 
ley  City  had  suffered  badly  from  the  rebel  battery. 
Pilot  John  A,  Lewis  was  shot  through  the  head  with 
a  Minie  ball  and  instantly  killed.  He  was  buried  on 
the  bank  of  the  river — the  rebels,  with  their  accus 
tomed  barbarity,  firing  on  the  burying  party. 

A  shell  exploded  in  the  pilot-house  of  the  Valley 
City,  badly  wounding  her  other  pilot.  A  number  of 
her  men  were  also  badly  hurt. 

THE  FLEET  IN  A  TIGHT  PLACE. 

The  2 1st  and  22d  were  passed  in  shelling  the  bat 
teries  on  Poplar  Point,  and  endeavoring  to  drag  the 
river  for  torpedoes,  that  were  now  thicker  than  ever. 
As  fast  as  our  boats  would  leave  the  ships  to  com 
mence  dragging,  the  rebels  would  open  on  them, 
wounding  and  killing  the  men.  A  new  battery  opened 
on  the  Valley  City,  inflicting  serious  damage  on  her. 
The  other  ships,  with  their  hundred-pounder  rifles, 
drove  the  rebels  off  repeatedly,  but  only  to  return 
whenever  -our  fire  slackened.  It  was  plain  that  we 
could  no  longer  do  without  a  land  force  to  drive  the 
fellows  off  and  clear  the  way  for  our  dragging  boats. 
Every  moment  the  rebels  thickened  in  the  woods;  the 
trees  and  bushes  were  alive  with  sharpshooters ;  bat- 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  85 

teries  were  discovered  in  process  of  erection  in  our 
rear ;  and  in  a  word,  the  position  of  the  squadron  was 
critical. 

THE  FLEET  WITHDRAWS  TO  JAMESVILLE. 

Commander  Macomb  again  sent  a  despatch  to  the 
colonel  commanding"  the  land  forces,  begging  him  to 
press  forward  without  delay.  The  reply  was  that  the 
army  would  advance  when  transportation  permitted. 
The  position  of  the  fleet  was  untenable  for  twenty- 
four  hours  more  ;  to  have  remained  would  have  in 
sured  the  loss  of  another  vessel ;  to  advance  was  im 
possible  without  army  co-operation  :  so,  very  reluct 
antly,  Commander  Macomb  gave  the  order  to  fall 
back  to  Jamesville,  there  to  await  the  action  of  the 
army.  The  fleet  fought  its  way  back  for  seven  or 
eight  miles,  and  the  rest  of  the  way  was  passed  in 
quiet. 

The  Otsego  had  not  yet  been  put  out  of  commission 
— Commander  Arnold  and  a  portion  of  her  crew 
remaining  on  her  hurricane-deck,  and  living  al  fresco. 
Her  heavy  battery  had  been  removed  to  the  Sham 
rock  and  Wyalusing,  but  her  brass  howitzer  still 
remained  on  her  hurricane-deck  to  defend  her  crew. 
A  survey  was  now  held  upon  her,  and  it  was  decided 
that  it  was  impossible  to  raise  either  her  or  the  Baze- 
ley.  Everything  that  could  be  removed  was  taken 
away,  and  two  torpedoes  were  placed  in  her  hull  and 
exploded,  thus  finishing  the  work  of  the  rebels.  Her 
remains  were  then  set  on  fire,  and  she  was  burned  to 
the  water's  edge. 


86  REMINISCENCES    OF   TWO    YEARS 

The  entire  fleet,  with  the  exception  of  the  Chicopee 
and  Mattabessett,  are  now  at  Jamesville;  and  the 
United  States  steamer  Lockwood,  to  which  Captain 
Aimes  was  ordered  after  the  loss  of  the  Bazeley,  joined 
it  last  night,  having  sailed  from  Newbern  to  do  so. 

COMMANDER    MACOMB. 

The  indomitable  perseverance  of  Commander  Ma- 
comb  and  his  captains,  in  pushing  on  through  a  river 
filled  with  torpedoes  and  lined  with  sharpshooters  for 
fifty  miles,  dragging  almost  every  foot  of  the  way,  and 
driving  the  enemy  before  them,  is  unsurpassed  even 
in  the  brilliant  naval  history  of  this  war.  Many  com 
manders  would  have  faltered  after  losing  two  of  their 
vessels ;  but  there  was  no  faltering  in  Macomb.  It 
was  not  until  all  hope  of  land  co-operation  was 
exhausted,  and  until  it  was  demonstrated  that  with 
out  a  land  support  he  could  go  no  further,  that  he 
consented  to  retire.  Throughout  the  whole  expedi 
tion,  he  asked  his  men  to  encounter  no  danger  that  he 
did  not  himself  share.  His  exposure  of  himself  to 
death  was  constant  and  unflinching ;  his  coolness  and 
self-possession  never  left  him ;  and  in  him  his  officers 
and  men  beheld  an  example  worthy  of  their  emula 
tion. 

Thanks  of  the  officers  of  the  Otsego,  to  Captain 
Wood  and  officers  of  the  transport,  General  Berry: 

"  WRECK  OF  UNITED  STATES  STEAMER  OTSEGO, 
"  ROANOKE  RIVER,  N.  C,  December,  15,  1864. 

"  The  officers  of  this  vessel  desire  to  express  their 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  8/ 

thanks  to  Captain  Wood  and  other  officers  of  the 
army  transport,  General  Berry,  for  the  politeness  and 
kind  consideration  they  received  on  board  that  boat, 
after  their  own  vessel  was  blown  up  by  torpedoes,  on 
the  night  of  December  9,  and  the  polite  manner  in 
which  they  furnished  both  officers  and  men  with 
every  facility  for  obtaining  the  comforts  they  so  much 
needed. 

"  H.  N.  T.  ARNOLD,  Lieiitenant  Commander. 

"  HENRY  D.  FOSTER,  Ensign  and  Executive  Officer. 

"  J.  P.  GALLAGHER,  Ensign. 

•'  WM.  H.  MCLEAN,  Ensign. 

"  GEORGE  C.  REYNOLDS,  Assistant  Surgeon. 

"  SAMUEL  C.  MIDLAM,  Acting  First  Ass't  Engineer. 

"R.  A.  ROLFE,  Captain's  Clerk. 

"  ROBERT  S.  HOUSTON,  Paymaster's  Clerk. 

"  FRANLIN  STEDMAN,  Acting  Master's  Mate'' 

THAT  OLD  FAMILY  BIBLE. 

A  Bible  captured  near  Windsor,  North  Carolina, 
during  the  expedition  up  Roanoke  river,  on  the  night 
of  December  i6th,  1864,  by  Ensign  Milton  Webster, 
on  a  marauding  expedition,  is  over  a  hundred  years 
old,  as  is  shown  by  its  title-page :  "  Edinburgh  : 
Printed  by  Alexander  Kincaid,  his  Majesty's  Printer, 
MDCCLXIX."  The  book  originally  belonged  to  W. 
A.  Turner,  of  Windsor,  North  Carolina,  as  that  name 
appears  in  gilt  upon  one  of  the  corners  of  the  Bible ; 
and  on  a  page  in  the  book  appears  the  following 
record : 


88  REMINISCENCES   OF   TWO    YEARS 

"  David  Turner  and  Elizabeth  Armistead  were 
married  Tuesday,  August  16,  1785. 

"  David  Turner  born  September  2d,  1738  ;  Elizabeth 
Armistead  born  December  29th,  1759. 

"Thomas  Turner  born  July  1 8th,  1786,  4:30  after 
noon;  William  Armistead  Turner  born  December 
1 3th,  1787,  nine  o'clock  a.  m.  They  were  both  bap 
tized  Sunday,  August  2d,  1789,  by  the  Rev.  McDowell. 

"  George  Turner  born  November  24th,  about  5 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  1789,  and  baptized  Sunday, 
twenty-first  of  February  following,  by  the  Rev.  W. 
Blount. 

"  Sarah  Turner  born  April  28th,  fifty  minutes  after 
nine  in  the  morning,  1791,  and  baptized  November 
27th,  same  year,  by  Rev.  W.  Wilson. 

"  Mary  Turner  born  November  8th,  at  eight  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  1793,  and  baptized  June  4th  following, 
by  Rev.  Mr.  Petigro,  and  died  August  8th,  1794,  some 
time  between  three  and  four  o'clock,  which  was  before 
day. 

"Hannah  Turner  born  October  I7th,  about  eleven 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  1796,  and  was  baptized  second 
Sunday  in  July  following,  by  the  Rev.  W.  Joseph 
Gurley. 

"  George  Turner  departed  this  life  August,  1 80 1. 

"  David  Turner  was  born  September  2,  1738,  and 
^Jied  May  I7th,  1802,  in  the  64th  year  of  his  age. 

"  My  dear  little  Sarah  and  Hannah  Turner  both  de 
parted  this  life  March  I5th,  1805. 

"  Elizabeth  Turner  departed  this  life  May  17,  1822, 
aged  62  years,  4  months  and  1 8  days. 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  89 

"  Thomas  Turner  died  on  the  6th  day  of  January, 
1847. 

"  All  the  forenamed  persons,  with  the  exception  of 
the  writer  hereof,  are  buried  in  the  graveyard  at  tHe 
plantation  whereon  the  father,  David  Turner,  and 
family  lived,  two  and  one-half  miles  west  of  the  town 
of  Windsor." 

No  doubt  the  writer  of  the  above  is  also  dead,  and 
time  and  the  chances  of  war  may  have  scattered  any 
remaining  members  of  the  family. 

THE    VALLEY    CITY    AND    HER    OFFICERS. 

The  officers  of  the  U.  S.  Steamer  Valley  City  were 
as  follows:  Acting  Master  Commanding,  John  A.  J. 
Brooks  ;  Acting  Ensign  and  Executive  Officer,  Milton 
Webster ;  Acting  Master's  Mates,  Charles  F.  O'Neill 
and  John  Maddock;  Acting  Assistant  Paymaster,  J. 
Woodville  Sands ;  Acting  Assistant  Surgeon,  John 
M.  Batten ;  Engineers — Second  Assistant  in  charge, 
James  M.  Battin ;  Acting  Third  Assistant,  John  Min- 
ton;  Acting  Master  and  Pilot,  John  A.  Wilson. 

Captain  J.  A.  J.  Brooks  was  a  North  Carolinian  by 
birth,  and  was  acquainted  with  the  waters  and  people 
of  North  Carolina.  He  was  a  full-sized  man  of  fine 
figure,  35  years  of  age,  brown  piercing  eyes,  light  hair, 
and  in  general  appearance  a  fine-looking  officer.  He 
was  brave,  and  ever  on  the  alert.  Many  nights  whilst 
the  Valley  City  was  laying  at  the  mouth  of  Roanoke 
river  watching  for  the  rebel  ram  Albemarle,  I  found 
Captain  Brooks  at  all  hours  on  deck — I  often  won- 


9O  REMINISCENCES   OF   TWO   YEARS 

dered  when  he  slept.  In  battle  he  was  cool  and  brave. 
Under  his  command  the  Valley  City  was  considered, 
by  the  Confederates  in  that  vicinity,  a  terror  to  the 
waters  of  North  Carolina. 

It  was  on  the  Valley  City,  whilst  in  a  fight  at 
Elizabeth  N.  C,  a  man  sat  over  the  opened  end  of  a 
barrel  of  powder  to  prevent  it  from  being  ignited, 
after  an  enemy's  shell  had  entered  and  exploded  in  the 
powder  magazine,  and  thus  saved  the  vessel.  The 
man  was  immediately  promoted  to  a  gunner. 

At  many  places  to  which  the  Valley  City  steamed, 
Captain  Brooks  would  be  anxious  to  ascertain  how 
many  Confederates  there  were  in  the  locality.  Upon 
asking  some  colored  people,  who  were  always  assem 
bled  to  greet  us,  how  many  rebels  there  were  at  a 
certain  locality,  they  would  make  the  following  reply: 
"  I  don't  know,  sah ;  but  dar  is  a  right  smaht  number 
dar."  Upon  pressing  them  for  a  more  definite  answer 
they  would  repeat,  "I  don't  know,  massa;  but  dar  is 
a  right  smaht  number  dar." 

The  Valley  City,  and  I  believe  all  naval  vessels, 
were  directed  to  go  ahead,  fast,  slow,  or  stop,  or  back 
fast  or  slow,  by  a  bell  hung  in  the  engine  room,  con 
nected  with  the  pilot-house  by  a  wire  which  was 
pulled  by  the  pilot.  One  bell  was  to  start;  two  bells, 
go  ahead  slow;  four  bells,  go  ahead  fast;  and  one  bell 
to  stop  (that  is  when  the  vessel  was  in  motion);  three 
bells  back;  two  bells,  back  slow;  and  four  bells,  back 
fast. 

The  time  of  day  was  noted  by  means  of  a  bell,  as 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  QI 

follows:  One  bell,   12^  o'clock,  p.  m.;  two  bells,   i 
o'clock,  p.  m.;  three  bells,  I  ^  o'clock,  p.  m.;  four  bells, 

2  o'clock,  p.  m.;  five  bells,  2^/2  o'clock,  p.  m.;  six  bells, 

3  o'clock,  p.  m.;  seven  bells,    3^  o'clock,  p.  m.;  and 
eight  bells,  4  o'clock,  p,  m.;  then,  one  bell,  4^  o'clock, 
p.  m.,  and   so  on  till   8  o'clock,  p.  m.;  then,  one  bell, 
8^  o'clock,  p.  m.,  and  so  on  till  12  o'clock,  p.  m.;  thus 
the  time  during  the  first  twelve  hours  of  the  following 
day  was  noted,  and  in  the  same  way  any  succeeding 
twelve  hours. 

Each  watch  remained  on  duty  four  hours,  say  from 
12  o'clock  m.  until  4  o'clock  p.  m.,  when  it  was 
relieved  by  another  watch,  which  would  remain  on 
duty  until  8  o'clock  p.  m.,  when  this  watch  was  again 
relieved  by  another  watch,  which  would  remain  on 
duty  four  hours,  or  until  12  o'clock  p.  m. 

It  would  be  an  officer's  duty  on  arriving  aboard  his 
own  or  another  vessel,  to  salute  the  quarter-deck  by 
taking  off  his  hat,  even  if  there  were  nobody  on  the 
deck.  All  who  were  on  the  deck  would  return  the 
salute  also,  by  taking  their  hats  off.  An  officer  arriv 
ing  on  board  his  own  vessel  would  always  report  to 
the  captain  of  the  vessel,  as  follows:  "Captain,  I 
report  myself  aboard,  sir."  The  captain  would  reply: 
"  Aye,  aye,  sir." 

Some  very  dark  nights  the  Captain,  in  order  to 
time  the  crew  and  officers  of  the  Valley  City  in  get 
ting  to  their  quarters,  would  spring  the  rattle  for  gen 
eral  quarters ;  and  such  a  time  there  would  be  in 
getting  out  of  our  berths,  and  going  to  general  quar- 


92  REMINISCENCES    OF    TWO    YEARS 

ters !  The  whole  affair  would  be  very  amusing,  and 
sometimes  ridiculous. 

The  small  boats  attached  to  a  man-of-war  are  the 
Captain's  gig,  dingy,  cutters  and  launches.  The  man 
who  guides  or  commands  one  of  these  small  boats  is 
known  as  the  coxswain.  A  small  boat  is  manned 
by  seven  to  fifteen  men,  according  to  the  size  of  the 
boat.  Th'e  coxswain's  command,  if  he  wants  to  turn 
sharp  to  the  left  or  port,  is  "  Hold  water  port,  give 
way  strong  starboard."  If  he  wishes  to  turn  sharp 
to  the  right  or  starboard,  his  command  would  be, 
"  Hold  water  starboard,  give  way  strong  port."  In 
rowing  alongside  of  a  vessel,  when  the  boat  had  suffi 
cient  headway  to  carry  it  alongside,  the  coxswain 
commands  the  men  to  drop  their  oars.  There  are 
many  other  commands  given  by  the  coxswain,  but 
it  is  unnecessary  to  name  them  in  this  place. 

It  is  a  very  beautiful  sight  to  see  a  b'oat  rowed  by 
fourteen  trained  men,  all  dressed  similarly. 

Saturday,  December  31,  at  2  a.  m.,  the  Valley  City 
got  under  weigh  and  proceeded  up  the  Chowan  river. 
We  arrived  in  sight  of  Winton,  when  the  Valley  City 
returned  down  the  river  and  anchored  for  the  night. 
Sunday,  January  I,  1865,  at  4  o'clock  p.  m.,  we 
steamed  down  the  river,  and  at  5  ^  o'clock  p.  m.  we 
anchored  off  Edenton  and  went  ashore.  The  weather 
is  cold  and  windy. 

Tuesday,  January  3d,  1865,  the  Valley  City,  at  io*4 
o'clock  a.  m.,  weighed  anchor  and  proceeded  to  Ply 
mouth,  where  she  arrived  at  I  p.  m.  At  8  p.  m.,  left 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  93 

Plymouth  and  proceeded  to  off  Edenton,  where  we 
arrived  at  10  p.  m. 

Wednesday,  January  4th,  1865,  we  left  Edenton  at 
7  a.  m.,  and  arrived  at  Plymouth  at  9^  a.  m.  Mr. 
Stevens  is  aboard.  The  weather  is  cold. 

Saturday,  January  7. — During  the  week  the  Valley 
City  has  been,  cruising  up  Chowan  river,  Simon's 
Creek,  and  around  Edenton  Bay,  watching  for  the 
Philadelphia,  a  blockade  runner.  Captain  Brooks, 
Paymaster  Sands  and  I,  frequently  went  ashore  at 
Edenton,  The  weather  during  the  week  has  been 
mild,  moist  and  rainy. 

Sunday,  January  8,  at  5  a.  m.,  we  proceeded  from 
Chowan  River  to  Edenton  Bay,  where  we  arrived  at 
7  a.  m.  Captain  J.  A.  J.  Brooks,  Acting  Master  James 
G.  Green,  Paymaster  Sands  and  I,  went  ashore  and 
took  dinner  with  Mr.  Samuel  B.  At  6  p.  m.,  we  got 
under  weigh  and  proceeded  to  the  mouth  of  Chowan 
River.  The  weather  is  cold. 

Monday,  January  9. — The  weather  is  delightful. 
We  lay  during  the  day  at  the  mouth  of  Chowan  River. 
Tuesday,  January  loth,  at  5  a.  m.,  the  Valley  City  got 
under  weigh  and  proceeded  up  to  Poole's  Landing, 
on  the  Chowan  River.  At  11:45  a.  m.,  we  discovered 
the  Philadelphia.  We  immediately  steamed  toward 
her,  and  at  12:1-5  p.  m.,  Mr.  Milton  Webster,  execu 
tive  officer,  took  a  launch  with  a  crew  of  men  and 
boarded  the  Philadelphia,  which  was  laying  near  Cole- 
rain,  with  a  cargo  of  257  bales  of  cotton,  and  tobacco. 
At  I  p.  m.  we  got  under  weigh,  with  the  Philadelphia 


94  REMINISCENCES   OF   TWO   YEARS 

in  tow,  and  proceeded  to  Plymouth.  At  5  p.  m., 
we  anchored  at  the  mouth  of  Roanoke  River.  The 
weather  is  raining  and  blustering,  accompanied  with 
thunder  and  lightning. 

Wednesday,  January  nth,  at  8  a.  m.,  we  weighed 
anchor  and  proceeded  to  Plymouth,  where  we  arrived 
at  9^  a.  m.  At  i^  p.  m.,  the  Valley.  City  got  under 
way  and  proceeded  to  Edenton,  where  we  arrived  at 
3:25  p.  m.  Captain  Brooks,  J.  W.  Sands  and  I,  went 
ashore,  and  called  on  Mr.  Samuel  B.  At  5:30  p.  m. 
we  got  under  weigh  and  proceeded  to  Plymouth, 
where  we  arrived  at  8  p.  m.  The  weather  is  cold 
but  pleasant.  At  9  p.  m.,  we  left  Plymouth  and  pro 
ceeded  up  Chowan  River. 

Thursday,  January  12. — The  Valley  City  came  to 
anchor  at  I  a.  m.,  at  Holly's  Island.  At  6  a.  m.  we 
got  under  weigh  and  proceeded  up  Chowan  river. 
At  7:30  a.  m.  we  came  to  anchor  off  "  Camp  Win- 
field."  Mr.  Milton  Webster  went  ashore,  and  in  com 
pany  with  Mr.  Winslow,  they  traveled  seven  miles 
into  the  country,  and  returned  safely  at  I  p.  m.,  with 
Mr.  Winslow  and  his  brother.  In  the  meantime, 
Captain  Brooks,  Paymaster  Sands  and  crew  went 
ashore,  and  captured  several  bales  of  cotton.  We 
arrived  at  Edenton  at  7  p.  m.  Captain  Brooks,  Pay 
master  J.  W.  Sands,  Mr.  Cannon,  and  Messrs.  Win- 
slows,  went  ashore.  The  weather  is  delightful. 

Friday,  January  13. — At  6:20  a.  m.  we  got  under 
weigh,  and  proceeded  to  Plymouth,  where  we  arrived 
at  8:20  a.  m.  The  weather  is  beautiful.  I  spent 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES    NAVY.  95 

nearly  all  day  ashore.  At  7  p.  m.  we  got  under  weigh, 
and  proceeded  toward  Roanoke  Island.  Saturday, 
January  14,  at  2  a.  m.,  we  anchored  in  Albemarle 
Sound,  and  at  8  a.  m.  we  arrived  at  Roanoke  Island. 
The  weather  is  windy.  Sunday,  January  15,  the  Val 
ley  City  got  under  woigh  at  4  o'clock  p.  m.,  and  pro 
ceeded  toward  Plymouth.  Mr.  O'Neill,  acting  master's 
mate,  was  very  severely  injured  by  a  hawser  to  which 
the  schooner  was  fastened  in  tow,  slipping  on  a  kevel. 
The  weather  is  windy,  and  the  Sounds  are  rough. 
Monday,  January  16,  we  arrived  at  Plymouth  at  10 
a.  m. 

Tuesday,  January  17. — We  got  under  weigh  at  1 1 
a.  m.,  and  proceeded  to  Edenton,  where  we  arrived  at 
12:30  p.  m.  Captain  J.  A.  J.  Brooks,  Acting  Master 
James  G.  Green,  J.  W.  Sands  and  I  went  ashore  and 

took  tea  at  Mr.  Samuel  B 's.  We  spent  a  very 

pleasant  time.  Mr.  Skinner,  D.  D.,  was  present.  At 
8  p.  m.  we  got  under  weigh,  and  proceeded  to 
Chowan  river,  and  came  to  anchor  at  9:25  p.  rn.  for 
the  night.  The  weather  is  delightful.  Wednesday, 
January  18,  at  5  a.  m.  we  got  under  weigh,  and  pro 
ceeded  to  Holly's  Landing,  where  we  anchored  at 
7  a.  m. 

Thursday,  January  19,  at  9  a.  m.,  we  got  under 
weigh,  and  proceeded  to  Edenton,  where  we  arrived 
at  12  m.  In  the  afternoon  I  attended  the  marriage  of 
Acting  Master  James  G.  Green  and  Miss  Cornelia 

B ,  which  took  place  at  Mr.  Samuel  B 's, 

the  father  of  the  bride.  There  were  quite  a  number 


96  REMINISCENCES    OF   TWO    YEARS 

of  the  fleet's  officers  present.  At  8  p.  m.,  the  Valley 
City  proceeded  towards  Roanoke  Island,  with  the 
bride  and  groom  and  the  bride's  two  sisters  and  cousin 
aboard. 

Friday,  January  20,  at  1:30  a.  m.,  we  came  to 
anchor,  and  at  8:30  a.  m.  we  ^ot  under  weigh,  and 
arrived  at  Roanoke  Island  at  11:30  a.  m. 

Saturday,  January  2 1st,  1865,  I  went  ashore  at 
Roanoke  -Island.  The  weather  is  rainy,  foggy,  and 
windy.  Monday,  January  23,  at  2  p.  m.,  we  got  under 
weigh  and  proceeded  to  Plymouth,  where  we  arrived 
in  the  evening.  The  night  is  dark  and  foggy.  Tues 
day,  January  24,  the  Val-ley  City  arrived  at  Edenton, 
and  landed  the  sisters  and  cousin  of  the  bride,  Acting 
Master  James  G.  Green  and  his  wife  having  proceeded 
from  Roanoke  Island  north,  on  a  short  tour. 

Saturday,  January  28,  1865. — At  6  a.  m.,  the  Valley 
City  got  under  weigh  and  proceeded  to  Colerain, 
where  we  arrived  at  10  a.  m.  The  weather  has  been 
extraordinarily  cold  the  last  three  days. 

Wednesday,  February  i. — The  weather  has  moder 
ated  and  is  pleasant.  The  Valley  City  is  laying  here 
for  the  purpose  of  protecting  the  troops  ashore,  com 
manded  by  Colonel  Frankle,  and  for  that  purpose  we 
shell  the  woods  occasionally.  The  boat  Alison  ran 
against  a  snag  here  and  was  sunk,  and  is  now  being 
raised. 

Saturday,  February  4. — At  $l/2  p.  m.,  we  got  under 
weigh  with  boat  Alison  in  tow,  which  had  been  pre 
viously  raised  so  as  to  be  buoyed  up  by  two  schoon- 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  97 

ers,  and  arrived  at  Edenton  Sunday,  February  5, 
at  2  a.  m.,  where  we  anchored  the  Alison,  and  at  1 1 
a.  m.  we  proceeded  to  Plymouth;  but  at  the  mouth 
of  Middle  river  we  were  met  by  the  tug  Belle,  from 
which  we  received  orders  to  return  to  Edenton,  to 
tow  the  Alison  to  Plymouth.  We  arrived  at  Edenton 
at  3  p.  m.,  and  at  7  p.  m.  the  officers  and  two  boats' 
crews  went  ashore.  At  9  p.  m..  we  took  the  Alison 
in  tow,  and  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  Roanoke  river, 
where  we  anchored  at  2  a.  m.,  Monday,  February  6. 
There  is  a  rise  in  the  Roanoke  river,  and  its  current 
is  very  swift,  so  that  the  Valley  City  could  make  but 
little  headway  up  the  river. 

Thursday,  February  9,  at  9^  a.  m.,  proceeded  to 
Plymouth,  where  we  arrived  at  9^  a.  m.  Tuesday, 
February  21,  at  12  m.,  we  weighed  anchor  and  pro 
ceeded  to  Salmon's  creek,  where  we  arrived  at  2.10  p. 
m.  Here  there  were  a  number  of  contrabands  and 
their  effects  taken  on  board.  One  of  the  contrabands 
stated  she  was  112  years  of  age,  and  had  seen  Wash 
ington  in  her  early  life ;  she  is  apparently  very  old. 
At  10  p.  m.,  a  boat,  with  a  rebel  soldier  and  two  old 
men,  with  bacon,  beef  and  fowls,  were  hailed,  and  the 
men  and  their  effects  were  brought  on  board  the 
Valley  City. 

Wednesday,  February  22d,  at  6  a.  m.,  the  Valley 
City  got  under  weigh  and  proceeded  toward  Plymouth. 
At  7  a.  m.,  we  came  to  an  anchor  off  Walnut  Point, 
and  took  on  board  more  contrabands,  and  at  10  a.  m. 
we  proceeded  to  Plymouth,  where  we  arrived  at  11.20 
7 


98  REMINISCENCES   OF   TWO    YEARS 

a.  m.  At  3  p.  m.  we  got  under  weigh,  and  arrived  at 
Edenton  at  5  p.  m.  I  went  ashore  with  Captain  J.  A. 

J.  Brooks,  and  called  on  Mr.  Samuel  B .  The 

fleet  at  Plymouth  fired  a  salute  in  commemoration  of 
the  birth  of  Washington. 

Thursday,  February  23d,  at  3  a.  m.,  we  got  under 
weigh  and  proceeded  to  the  mouth  of  Chowan  rivec, 
and  returned  to  Edenton,  where  we  arrived  at  8  a.  m. 
Captain  J.  A.  J.  Brooks  and  I  went  ashore,  and  called 

on  Messrs.  Samuel  B ,  Henry  B ,  and  Mr. 

M .  In  the  afternoon,  we, interred  Matthew  Sheri 
dan,  landsman,  who  had  died  of  typhus  fever.  At  5 
p.  m.  we  returned  to  ship  and  got  under  weigh  and 
proceeded  down  the  Albemarle  Sound  to  Laurel 
Point,  where  we  arrived  at  9  p.  m.,  and  anchored. 
The  weather  is  pleasant. 

Saturday,  February  25,  at  5^  a.  m.,  got  under 
weigh  and  proceeded  to  the  mouth  of  Little  Alligator 
river,  where  we  arrived  and  anchored  at  9^  a.  m. 

Sunday,  February  26,  at  I  y2  p.  m.,  the  Valley 
City  got  under  weigh  and  steamed  toward  Roanoke 
Island,  in  pursuit  of  a  schooner  which  was  supposed 
to  be  running  the  blockade;  but  upon  boarding  her, 
it  was  found  she  had  permission  to  trade  with  the 
inhabitants  in  that  vicinity.  At  6  p.  m.,  we  came  to 
an  anchor  at  the  mouth  of  Alligator  river. 

Monday,  February  27,  at  6  a.  m.,  the  Valley  City 
got  under  weigh  and  steamed  up  the  Alligator  river  to 
Chincapin  Ridge,  where  Captain  J.  A.  J.  Brooks,  Act 
ing  Master's  Mate  O'Neill,  and  myself,  with  two  crews 


IN   THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  99 

of  men,  fourteen  in  number,  went  ashore  and  marched 
three  miles  into  the  country,  through  pines  and  cy 
presses.  Along  the  road  we  put  up  a  mark  on  a  tree 
and  fired  at  it;  and  although  I  was  not  an  expert 
marksman,  1  put  a  ball  nearest  the  mark.  We  finally 
came  to  a  house  occupied  by  a  man  and  his  wife  and 
their  children,  who  were  very  poor.  The  house  was 
illy  furnished,  and  had  only  one  apartment.  The  ap 
pearance  of  it,  inside  or  outside,  was  not  very  inviting. 
Captain  J.  A.  J.  Brooks  asked  the  man  whether  he 
could  provide  dinner  for  the  party.  He  demurred  at 
first,  but  finally  agreed  to  provide  such  a  dinner  as  the 
viands  in  the  house  would  permit  of.  All  the  party 
were  very  hungry,  and  were  glad  to  have  the  oppor 
tunity  of  sitting  down  to  any  sort  of  a  dinner.  The 
woman  went  to  work  to  cook  a  dinner.  In  the  mean 
time,  the  officers,  men,  and  host,  employed  themselves 
in  shooting  at  a  mark.  During  this  time  the  host  told 
us  the  war  had  been  a  benefit  to  him,  in  so  far  as  it 
had  made  a  temperance  man  of  him.  Before  the  war, 
he  said,  he  had  been  an  immoderate  drinker  of  intoxi 
cating  liquors,  but  now  he  was  temperate  from  neces 
sity,  as  he  could  get  nothing  stronger  than  water  to 
drink.  Dinner  was  soon  announced.  It  was  set  on  a 
table  about  two  feet  square,  without  a  tablecloth. 
Our  dinner  consisted  of  bacon,  corn  bread,  and  coffee 
made  from  corn.  Only  four  could  be  seated  at  the 
same  time  around  the  table,  consequently  there  were 
five  successive  tables  served,  occupying  altogether 
about  two  hours  in  eating.  We  all  enjoyed  the  din- 


IOO  REMINISCENCES    OF   TWO   YEARS 

ner,  as  we  were  very  hungry  from  traveling  through 
the  pines.  After  remunerating  our  host  in  a  sub 
stantial  way  and  thanking  him  for  his  hospitality,  we 
returned  to  the  vessel. 

Tuesday,  February  28. — The  Valley  City  got  under 
weigh  at  9  a.  m.,  and  arrived  at  Roanoke  Island  at 
2:45  p.  m.  Wednesday,  March  I,  at  7  p.  in.,  we 
weighed  anchor  and  proceeded  to  Plymouth.  At  10 
p.  m.,  we  got  aground  near  Croatan  Sound.  Thurs 
day,  March  2,  at  5^  o'clock  a.  m.,  we  got  under- 
weigh  and  proceeded  to  Plymouth,  where  we  arrived 
at  2  p.  m.  We  brought  with  us  as  passengers  Messrs. 
Douglass  and  Winslow,  from  Roanoke  Island. 

Saturday,  March  4,  at  II  a.  m.,  we  proceeded  to 
the  mouth  of  Roanoke  river,  for  the  purpose  of  tow 
ing  a  coal  schooner  to  Plymouth.  We  arrived  at 
Plymouth  at  3^  p.  m.  The  weather, has  been  very 
warm. 

Wednesday,  March  8,  at  8  p.  m.,  we  got  under 
weigh  and  proceeded  to  Roanoke  Island,  where  we 
arrived  the  following  day  at  6^  a.  m.  Mr.  Harris, 
Second  Assistant  Engineer,  and  I,  went  ashore. 

Friday,  March  10,  at  9^  a.  m.,  we  got  under 
weigh,  and  at  I  p.  m.  anchored  in  Albemarle  Sound. 
As  the  Valley  City  was  steaming  toward  Plymouth, 
suddenly  and  unexpectedly  a  heavy  squall  came  up, 
and  tossed  the  Valley  City  about  so  much  that  we 
were  fearful  she  might  be  capsized.  The  guns  were 
not  made  fast  at  the  time.  The  officers  had  just  sat 
down  to  dinner  as  the  Valley  City  commenced  rolling 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  IOI 

and  pitching  tremendously.  First  we  endeavored  to 
save  the  contents  of  the  dinner  table;  finally  this  effort 
was  abandoned  in  order  to  save  ourselves.  We 
were  tossed  about  the  ward-room  in  an  uncom 
fortable  manner.  The  contents  of  the  dinner  table 
went  to  the  floor  and  were  lost,  and  to  mend  matters 
the  Valley  City  got  into  the  "  trough  of  the  sea." 
The  howitzers  and  ammunition  above  our  heads  on 
the  poop  deck,  were  being  tossed  from  side  to  side, 
and  so  were  also  the  large  guns  on  the  gun  deck. 
The  line  officers  and  crew  were  soon  engaged  in  get 
ting  the  Valley  City,  out  of  the  "  trough  of  the  sea," 
and  securing  her  guns  by  making  them  fast.  The 
gale  continued  about  a  half  hour,  after  which  the 
Valley  City  steamed  quietly  to  Plymouth.  On  Satur 
day,  March  1 1,  at  11:20  a.  m.,  we  anchored  off  Eden- 
ton,  and  at  4:35  p.  m.,  proceeded  to  Plymouth,  where 
we  arrived  at  7:15  p.  m. 

Wednesday,  March  15,  the  Valley  City  got  un 
der  weigh  and  proceede'd  to  the  blockade  above 
Plymouth.  Monday,  March  20,  the  Valley  City 
got  under  weigh  and  proceeded  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Cashie  river,  where  we  arrived  at  2  p.  m.  Wednes 
day,  March  22,  the  Valley  City  got  under  weigh  and 
proceeded  to  Plymouth,  where  we  arrived  at  3^  p.  m. 
At  4*4  p.  m.,  we  got  under  weigh  and  proceeded  to 
Edenton,  where^  we  arrived  at  6^4  P-  m-  Captain  J. 
A.  J.  Brooks,  Paymaster  J.  W.  Sands,  Major  Willis, 
Mr.  Tiffing  and  myself,  went  ashore.  Friday,  March 
24,  at  5  p.  m.,  we  got  under  weigh  and  proceeded  to 


1O2  REMINISCENCES  OF    TWO   YEARS 

Plymouth,  where  we  arrived  at  7  p.  in.  The  weather 
is  beautiful.  Saturday,  March  25,  at  \y2  p.  m.,  Com 
mander  Macomb  came  aboard,  and  the  Valley  City 
proceeded  toward  Newbern.  At  8^  p.  m.,  we  an 
chored  in  Croatan  Sound.  Sunday,  March  26,  at  5  J^ 
a.  m.,  we  got  under  weigh,  and  at  7^  a.  m.  we  came 
to  anchor.  At  ioj{  a.  m.  we  got  under  weigh  and 
proceeded  to  Newbern,  where  we  arrived  the  follow 
ing  day  at  I  a.  m. 

Friday,  March  31,  at  3  o'clock,  a.  m.,  we  left  New 
bern,  with  Commander  Macomb  still  aboard,  and  ar 
rived  at  Roanoke  Island  at  5^  p.  m.  At  7  p.  m.  we 
got  under  weigh,  and  proceeded  as  far  as  Croatan 
Sound,  where  we  got  aground,  and  stuck  fast  till  the 
following  day,  when  at  12^  a.  m.  we  got  afloat,  and 
anchored  till  5  a.  m.,  when  we  proceeded  to  Plymouth, 
where  we  arrived  at  2  p.  m.  Commander  Macomb 
went  on  board  his  own  ship,  the  Shamrock.  At  4^£ 
p.  m.  we  got  under  weigh,  and  proceeded  by  way  of 
Albemarle  Sound  and  Chowan  river  to  Winton,  and 
then  up  Meherrin  river  to  Murfreesborough,  N.  C.,  in 
company  with  the  U.  S.  Steamers  Shamrock,  Wyalus- 
ing,  and  Hunchback.  We  dragged  the  Meherrin 
river  for  torpedoes  from  Winton  to  Murfreesborough, 
but  found  none,  arriving  at  Murfreesborough  on  Mon 
day,  April  3,  at  6:35  p.  m. 

Murfreesborough  is  a  small,  beautifully-located 
town,  on  a  high  plateau  of  ground  on  the  right  bank 
of  the  Meherrin  river,  surrounded  by  woods.  There 
were  two  female  seminaries  in  the  place,  one  a  Bap- 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVV.  IOJ 

tist,  the  other  a  Methodist.  The  people  were  intelli 
gent,  but  very  much  interested  in  the  success  of  the 
Confederacy.  This  place  was  opened  up  by  the  fleet 
for  the  purpose  of  being  a  depot  of  supply  for  Sher 
man's  army,  and  was  intended  to  be  the  next  point  ot 
landing  after  Sherman  left  Raleigh.  In  Murfrees- 
borough  there  were  about  one  thousand  rebels,  who 
gave  us  great  annoyance  till  they  were  finally  cap 
tured  by  the  3d  New  York  cavalry. 

On  the  following  Tuesday,  April  4,  Acting  Ensign 
Milton  Webster  and  myself  went  ashore  for  the  pur 
pose  of  ascertaining  the  whereabouts  of  Paymaster  J. 
W.  Sands,  who  had  previously  gone  ashore.  At  a 
point  midway  between  the  cliff  of  the  river  and  the 
town,  we  met  a  colored  man  who  told  us  we  had 
better  be  careful,  as  there  were  rebel  cavalry  in  the 
town.  We  then  went  away  from  the  town  in  a  line 
parallel  with  the  river,  across  a  ravine  which  was  at 
right  angles  with  the  river.  Just  as  we  had  crossed 
the  ravine,  we  saw  the  rebel  cavalry  coming  down  on 
the  opposite  side.  We  took  to  our  heels  and  ran 
under  fire  till  we  got  to  the  woods,  and  thence  to  the 
fleet.  When  we  arrived  aboard  the  Valley  City,  we 
found  that  Paymaster  Sands  had  returned  on  board, 
and  had  taken  about  the  same  route  ashore  as  we  had. 

On  Wednesday,  April  5,  the  marines  were  put  in 
line  and  marched  into'  the  town  under  cover  of  the 
fleet ;  but  as  they  marched  in  the  rebels  marched  out. 
Acting  Ensign  J.  B.  Fairchilds  was  very  seriously 
wounded  by  an  accidental  discharge  of  his  own  pistol 
before  starting. 


104  REMINISCENCES    OF    TWO    YEARS 

On  Thursday,  April  6,  several  officers  and  men  of 
the  fleet  were  ashore,  but  did  not  go  into  the  town. 
In  the  afternoon  many  of  our  men  approached  near 
the  city,  where  the  rebel  cavalry  could  be  seen  plainly. 
Paymaster  J.  W*  Sands  and  I  had  walked  about  one- 
half  the  distance  from  the  river  towards  the  town, 
when  we  saw  the  rebel  cavalry.  We  then  returned 
nearer  the  river,  to  a  cabin  in  which  two  very  old  col 
ored  people  lived,  in  the  rear  of  a  large  log  on  which 
Captain  J.  A.  J.  Brooks  was  standing,  we  both 
went  into  the  cabin.  After  a  few  minutes'  stay  there 
in  conversation  with  the  colored  people,  I  happened 
to  look  out  of  the  window  and  saw  the  officers  and 
-men  of  the  fleet  running.  I  immediately  said  to  Pay 
master  Sands,  "  The  rebels  are  coming!"  Then  we 
ran  out  of  the  cabin  under  fire  down  toward  the  fleet. 
The  bullets  fell  all  around  me  as  I  was  running,  and 
just  as  I  came  to  a  path  which  led  down  the  cliff,  on 
which  a  lot  of  scrub  oak  was  growing,  the  fleet  opened 
fire,  and  the  branches  of  the  trees  over  my  head 
were  cut  by  the  flying  shells.  I  immediately  fell  out 
of  range  of  the  shells,  and  took  an  unfrequented  path 
which  led  to  the  mouth  of  the  ravine.  I  soon  arrived  at 
the  mouth  of  the  ravine,  near  by  the  river.  Meantime 
the  fleet  was  keeping  up  a  rapid  fire.  The  remainder  of 
the  officers  and  men  came  down,  but  soon  learned  our 
supposed  enemy  was  the  3d  New  York  cavalry,  who 
also  thought  we  were  Confederates.  This  cavalry 
force  had  made  a  raid  from  Weldon,  and  had  ap 
proached  the  town  from  the  opposite  side  from  where 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  TC>5 

the  fleet  was  laying,  and  in  so  doing  captured  the 
rebel  cavalry  in  the  town  of  Murfreesborough.  There 
was  fortunately  nobody  injured."  The  horses  of  the 
cavalry  were  covered  with  foam  and  very  much  heated 
— so  much  so  that  the  saddles  were  taken  from  their 
backs,  and  they  were  led  around  for  an  hour  before 
they  cooled  off. 

The  same  afternoon,  after  the  third  New  York  cav 
alry  had  arrived,  many  of  the  officers  of  the  fleet, 
feeling  they  might  visit  the  town  with  impunity,  did 
so.  Captain  J.  A.  J.  Brooks,  Lieutenant  Joseph  P. 
Fyffe  of  the  Hunchback,  James  M.  Battin,  chief  en 
gineer  of  the  Valley  City,  Paymaster  J.  W.  Sands  and 

myself,  by  invitation,  took  tea  with  a  Mr.  C of  the 

place. 

The  next  morning,  Thursday,  April  6,  the  third 
New  York  cavalry  marched  through  the  main  street 
and  left  the  town.  All  the  windows  of  the  houses  on 
the  main  street  were  closed,  and  none  of  their  occu 
pants  were  to  be  seen.  This  was  done  in  contempt 
for  the  Federal  troops.  After  our  cavalry  had  de 
parted,  the  officers  and  the  marines  returned  to  the 
fleet,  and  at  4:15  p.  m.  got  under  weigh,  and  arrived 
off  Winton  at  10  p.  m.,  where  the  fleet  remained  for 
some  time. 

Wednesday,  April  10,  at  12  m.,  the  Valley  City  got 
under  weigh  and  proceeded  by  way  of  Edenton  to 
Plymouth,  where  we  arrived  at  2:15  a.  m.  the  following 
day.  At  3:05  a.  m.  we  got  under  weigh  and  returned 
to  Winton,  where  we  arrived  at  12  m.  At  this  point 
5* 


IO6  REMINISCENCES    OF    TWO    YEARS 

and  time  we  first  heard,  through  the  New  York 
Herald,  that  the  Confederate  troops  under  General 
Lee  had  been  driven  from  Petersburg  by  the  Federal 
troops  under  General  U.  S.  Grant.  There  was  great 
rejoicing  aboard  the  fleet.  The  U.  S.  steamers  Sham 
rock,  Wyalusing  and  Hunchback,  fired  a  salute  in  cel 
ebration  of  that  event.  At  3^  p.  m.  the  U.  S. 
steamers  Valley  City  and  Whitehead  proceeded  to 
Murfreesborough,  where  we  arrived  at  6*4  p-  m. 

Friday,  April  14,  at  7:50  a.  m.,  the  Valley  City  and 
Whitehead  got  under  weigh,  and  proceeded  down  to 
Winton,  where  we  met  the  Wilderness,  with  Com 
mander  Wm.  H.  Macomb  and  Lieutenant  Commander 
Earl  English  aboard,  when  we  received  the  news  that 
the  Confederate  forces  under  General  Lee  had  sur 
rendered  to  General  Grant. 

The  U.  S.  steamers  Valley  City  and  Whitehead 
were  ordered  to  proceed  to  Murfreesborough  and  de 
liver  the  news  to  the  citizens  at  that  place ;  and  now, 
after  having  read  a  copy  of  the  New  York  Herald, 
they  were  thoroughly  convinced  that  the  war  was 
over.  Saturday,  April  15,  at  11:45  a-  ni->  the  U.  S. 
steamers  Valley  City  and  Whitehead  got  under  weigh 
and  proceeded  to  Winton,  where  we  arrived  at  7:5  5  p.  m. 

Tuesday,  April  i8,-we  first  received  news  of  Presi 
dent  Lincoln's  assassination,  which  event  cast  a  gloom 
over  the  entire  nation.  At  12:45  P-  rn.,  the  U.  S. 
steamers  Valley  City  and  Whitehead  got  under  weigh 
and  proceeded  up  the  Chowan  river  to  Blackwater 
river,  up  which  we  steamed  to  Franklin,  Virginia, 


IN    THE   UNITED   STATES    NAVY.  IO/ 

where  we  arrived  at  8  a.  m.  the  following  day.  We 
visited  the  people  ashore  at  different  times  during  our 
stay  at  that  place.  Thursday,  April  20,  at  8^  a.  m., 
the  Valley  City  and  Whitehead  got  under  weigh,  and 
proceeded  down  the  Blackwater  river  to  Chowan 
river,  down  which  we  steamed  to  its  mouth,  where  we 
anchored. 

There  are  a  great  many  fish  in  the  Chowan  river, 
and  the  Valley  City  has  often  caught  shad  and  herring 
by  the  barrel,  in  a  large  seine  which  the  inhabitants 
of  that  vicinity  use  for  the  purpose. 

Saturday,  April  22,  at  4:25  a.  m.,  the  U.  S.  steamers 
Valley  City  and  Whitehead  got  under  weigh,  and  at 
8:30  a.  m.  arrived  at  Plymouth,  where  we  anchored. 
At  3:20  p.  m.,  the  Valley  City  and  Whitehead  got 
under  weigh,  and  arrived  at  Edenton  at  5:30  p.  m., 
and  at  1 1  p.  m.  the  Valley  City  and  Whitehead  got 
under  weigh  and  steamed  toward  Hertford,  N.  C, 
where  we  arrived  on  Sunday,  April  23,  at  7^  a.  m. 
At  10  a.  m.  the  officers  of  the  two  vessels  in  full  uni 
form  went  to  an  Episcopal  service  held  in  a  church  in 
Hertford.  The  members  of  the  congregation  were 
sparsely  scattered  on  seats  throughout  the  church. 
Upon  the  officers  entering  and  occupying  two  pews 
on  the  left  hand  side  of  the  church,  that  portion  of 
the  congregation  occupying  the  same  range  of  seats 
as  ourselves  very  abruptly  and  hurriedly  sought  seats 
on  the  other  side.  After  listening  to  a  sermon  which 
was  nervously  delivered,  we  quietly  and  orderly  re 
turned  aboard  our  respective  vessels. 


IO8  REMINISCENCES    OF   TWO    YEARS 

Hertford  is  a  small  town  on  a  body  of  water  ex 
tending  from  Albemarle  Sound,  called  Perquimans. 
The  people  were  usually  kind  and  courteous,  after 
they  discovered  that  our  disposition  was  to  be  friendly 
toward  them.  There  were  people  living  there  who 
were  in  sympathy  with  the  Federal  government,  and 
to  whose  hospitality  we  were  kindly  invited  and  wel 
comed.  One  day  during  our  stay  at  Hertford,  Pay 
master  J.  W.  Sands  and  myself  procured  a  buggy  and 
horse,  and  drove  to  Edenton,  a  distance  of  twenty 
miles,  and  returned  to  Hertford  in  the  evening.  The 
trip  was  not  considered  a  very  safe  one,  on  account 
of  the  number  of  bushwhackers  there  had  been  in 
that  vicinity. 

Monday,  May  i,  at  8^  a.  m.,  the  Valley  City  got 
under  weigh,  and  arrived  at  Edenton  at  2:10  p.  m.; 
and  at  5  p.  m.  left  Edenton  and  arrived  at  Plymouth 
at  7  p.  m.  Tuesday,  May  9,  the  Valley  City  got 
under  weigh  for  the  purpose  of  clearing  the  Roanoke 
river  of  torpedoes.  The  U.  S.  steamer  losco,  com 
manded  by  Lieutenant  Commander  James  S.  Thorn 
ton,  accompanied  us. 

Saturday,  May  13,  the  Valley  City  and  losco  arrived 
at  Hamilton,  N.  C.  Captain  Thornton,  Third  Assist 
ant  Engineer  Amos  Harris,  Ensign  Hull,  and  myself 
went  ashore  and  spent  the  afternoon.  In  the  morning 
before  arriving  at  Hamilton,  Lieutenant-Commander 
James  S.  Thornton  of  the  losco  went  ashore,  and  vis 
ited  Rainbow  Bluff.  Captain  Thornton  made  the 
remark  that  the  place  would  have  been  very  difficult 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  109 

to   capture  with  any  naval  force,  so  strongly  was  it 
fortified. 

Lieutenant- Commander  James  S.  Thornton  was 
executive  officer  aboard  the  U.  S.  steamer  Kearsarge 
at  the  time  this  vessel  sunk  the  rebel  blockade  run 
ner  Alabama,  in  which  the  transaction  was  so  quick 
and  complete.  Captain  Thornton  stated  that  at  1 1 
o'clock  a.  m.,  of  a  Sunday,  when  he  received  the 
report  of  there  being  a  ship  in  sight,  he  was  seated  in 
a  chair,  with  his  feet  resting  on  the  wardroom  table, 
reading  the  Bible.  The  rattle  for  general  quarters 
was  rung,  and  the  Kearsarge  got  under  weigh,  and 
proceeded  toward  the  Alabama,  sunk  her,  and  by  2 
o'clock  of  the  same  afternoon  the  Kearsarge  arrived 
at  Cherbourg,  France.  Comments  by  the  citizens  of 
that  place  were  made  on  the  cleanliness  of  the  Kear 
sarge  after  sinking  so  formidable  a  vessel  as  the 
Alabama. 

Monday,  May  15,  at  I  p.  m.,  the  Valley  City 
arrived  at  Palmyra,  N.  C.  I  visited  the  town.  It  is  a 
place  of  about  a  half-a-dozen  houses,  about  a  mile 
from  the  right  bank  of  the  Roanoke  river.  At  this 
place  Captain  J.  A.  J.  Brooks  joined  the  Valley  City 
with  the  Cotton  Plant  and  Fisher,  two  steamers 
which  the  Confederates  had  captured  from  the  Fed 
erals  at  Plymouth  at  the  time  the  Southfield  was  sunk 
by  the  rebel  ram  Albemarle.  There  were  aboard 
these  boats  fifty  bales  of  cotton.  In  the  evening, 
pilot  John  A.  Wilson  ran  the  Valley  City  hard  and 
fast  aground,  so  that  it  took  the  greater  part  of  the 
night  to  get  her  afloat. 


IIO  REMINISCENCES    OF    TWO    YEARS 

Thursday,  May  16,  the  Valley  City  steamed  up  to 
Ergot's  Landing,  and  took  aboard  thirty-nine  bales  of 
cotton.  Thursday,  May  18,  the  Valley  City  got 
under  weigh  and  proceeded  down  the  Roanoke  river 
and  came  to  anchor  five  miles  above  Hamilton. 

Saturday,  May  2O,  at  9  a.  m.,  the  Valley  City  got 
under  weigh,  and  proceeded  to  Hamilton,  where  we 
came  to  an  anchor.  On  Tuesday,  May  23,  in  the 
morning  Captain  J.  A.  J.  Brooks,  Paymaster  J.  W. 
Sands  and  myself  went  hunting  for  squirrels.  Pay 
master  Sands  separated  from  us  early  in  the  morning. 
The  Captain  and  I  soon  came  to  a  mulberry  tree,  on 
which  he  shot  a  squirrel  which  was  after  mulberries  ; 
another  came  and  was  shot,  and  before  night  we  shot 
a  dozen.  In  the  evening,  upon  returning  to  the  ves 
sel,  we  met  Paymaster  Sands,  who  was  also  returning 
to  the  vessel,  He  had  been  traveling  all  day  in  the 
woods,  but  did  not  shoot  a  squirrel.  We  all  pro 
ceeded  to  the  Valley  City,  and  had  the  squirrels 
cooked  for  supper,  of  which  we  ate  heartily,  for  we 
were  very  hungry.  This  was  the  last  supper  I  ate 
aboard  the  Valley  City. 

The  following  morning,  Wednesday,  May  24,  at 
5;3O  o'clock,  I  was  relieved  by  Acting  Assistant  Sur 
geon  L.  W.  Loring,  and  ordereji  North  on  a  two 
months  leave  of  absence ;  and  now  I  am  to  say  fare 
well  to  the  officers  and  crew  of  the  Valley  City,  with 
whom  I  have  shared  their  dangers,  their  sorrows  and 
their  joys,  and  the  old  ship  I  am  also  to  leave,  which 
has  buoyed  us  so  safely  over  the  short  and  rugged 


JN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  Ill 

waves  of  the  waters  of  North  Carolina,  amidst  the 
torpedoes,  the  sharpshooters,  and  the  artillery  of  the 
enemy.  This  is  certainly  an  occasion  of  joy,  yet 
mingled  with  sadness.  "  Farewell  is  a  word  that  has 
been,  a  word  that  must  be,  a  sound  which  makes  us 
linger — yet  we  must  say,  farewell." 

HOMEWARD    BOUND. 

I  went  aboard  the  Eolus,  which  proceeded  up  the 
Roanoke  river,  and  at  4:30  p.  m.  we  met  the  Cotton 
Plant,  with  Commander  W.  H.  Macomb  aboard,  eight 
miles  below  Halifax.  The  Eolus,  with  the  Cotton 
Plant,  returned  to  Edward's  Ferry,  where  we  arrived 
at  7  p.  m.  I  went  ashore.  This  place,  which  is  a 
large  plantation,  and  was  owned  by  Mr.  Wm.  Smith, 
who  owns,  or  did  own,  quite  a  number  of  slaves,  who 
worked  the  plantation.  At  this  time  the  slaves  were 
cultivating  corn.  The  male  slaves,  with  hoes  to  hoe 
the  corn,  followed  after  the  female  slaves,  who  drove 
the  horses  and  directed  the  cultivators  or  ploughs. 
The  rebel  ram  Albemarle  was  constructed  at  Ed 
ward's  Ferry,  and  there  was  another  ram  or  ironclad 
in  process  of  construction  at  this  place ;  but  it  was 
destroyed  by  the  rebels  at  the  close  of  the  war.  I 
saw  the  landing  where  these  rams  were  constructe'd ; 
the  chips  from  them  could  be  seen  lying  all  around. 

Thursday,  May  25. — We  left  Edward's  Ferry  at  10 
a.  m.,  and  at  8  p.  m.  the  Eolus  came  to  an  anchor 
near  Poplar  Point,  where  we  visited  the  graves  of 
those  who  had  been  killed  in  the  late  action  at  this 
place. 


I  I  2  REMINISCENCES    OF   TWO    YEARS 

Friday,  May  26. — The  Eolus,  with  Commander 
W.  H.  Macomb  on  board,  got  under  weigh  and 
steamed  to  Plymouth,  where  we  arrived  at  12  m. 
Commander  W.  H.  Macomb  went  aboard  his  own 
vessel,  the  Shamrock.  At  8  p.  m.  the  Eolus  got  under 
weigh  and  steamed  towards  Roanoke  Island,  and  came 
to  an  anchor  at  12  p.  m.  in  Albemarle  Sound. 

Saturday,  May  27,  at  4^  a.  m,  the  Eolus  got 
under  weigh  and  proceeded  to  Roanoke  Island,  where 
we  arrived  at  7:15  a.  m.  At  2^  p.  m.  I  took  passage 
in  the  boat  Washington  Irving,  which  got  under 
weigh  and  steamed  till  9^  p.m.,  when  I  changed 
into  the  boat  Arrow,  which  steamed  two  miles  up  the 
Dismal  Swamp  canal,  and  passed  by  the  wreck  of  the 
Fawn,  which  had  been  previously  captured,  sunk  and 
burned  by  the  rebels,  and  there  came  to  an  anchor. 
During  the  night  I  slept  on  a  bench,  with  my  boot 
for  a  pillow. 

Sunday,  May  28,  the  boat  Arrow  left  Coinjock  at 
5  a.  m.,  and  arrived  at  Norfolk,  Va.,  at  i  p.  m.  I 
took  dinner  at  the  National  House  in  that  place.  At 
2l/2  p.  m.  I  took  passage  from  Norfolk  in  the  Louisi 
ana,  and  arrived  at  Fortress  Monroe  at  3^  p.  m. 
We  passed  by  the  wreck  of  the  rebel  iron-clad  Merri- 
mac.  At  5  p.  m.  the  Louisiana  got  under  weigh  for 
Baltimore,  where  she  arrived  Monday,  May  29,  at  6 
o'clock  a.  m.;  and  then  I  went  by  way  of  Philadelphia 
home,  where  I  arrived  about  noon  of  May  30,  1865. 
The  atmosphere  never  seemed  to  me  more  salubri 
ous  than  at  this  time ;  the  grass  never  appeared 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  113 

greener,  the  flowers  never  seemed  to  exhale  more 
fragrance,  and  the  people  never  seemed  kinder.  It 
seemed  a  perfect  Paradise  compared  with  the  swamps 
of  North  Carolina. 

During  the  time  of  my  "  leave  of  absence,"  I  met 
with  the  following  men  of  note,  all  of  whom  are  now 
dead  :  Hon.  Thaddeus  Stevens  I  met  in  the  reading- 
room  of  the  United  States  Hotel  at  Harrisburg,  Pa., 
seated  on  a  chair  with  his  feet  resting  on  a  table, 
reading  the  newspapers,  a  number  of  files  of  which  he 
had  lying  all  around  him.  He  would  first  glance  at 
one  file  and  then  at  another,  till  he  had  examined  all. 
I  have  heard  of  two  anecdotes  told  about  him.  One 
was,  whilst  meeting  an  enemy  face  to  face  on  the 
street  in  Lancaster,  Pa.,  his  enemy  said  to  Mr.  Ste 
vens,  "  I  never  turn  out  of  the  road  of  a  fool."  The 
latter  said  sharply,  "  I  do,"  and  passed  around  the 
former.  The  other  incident  occurred  whilst  Mr.  Ste 
vens  was  very  ill  in  Washington,  D.  C.  A  friend 
visited  him  and  complimented  him  on  his  appearance. 
Mr.  Stevens  very  jocularly  replied  that  it  was  not  his 
appearance  that  interested  him  (Mr.  Stevens)  so  much 
as  his  disappearance.  I  have  since  visited  his  grave 
in  Lancaster,  Pa.,  which  has  the  following  inscription 
upon  the  tombstone  : 

THADDEUS  STEVENS, 
Born  at  Danville,  Caledonia  County,  Vermont, 

April  4,  1792. 

Died  at  Washington,  D.  C., 
August  u,  1868. 


114  REMINISCENCES    OF    TWO    YEARS 

STEVENS. 
I  repose  in  this  quiet  and  secluded  spot, 

Not  from  any  preference  for  solitude, 
But  rinding  other  cemeteries  limited  as  to  race 

by  charter  rules, 
I  have  chosen  this,  that  I  might  illustrate 

in  my  death 
the  principle  which  I  advocated 

through  a  long  life, 

Equality  of  man  before  his  Creator. 

1792-1868. 

I  also  met  in  Lancaster,  Pa.,  about  the  same  time, 
ex-President  James  Buchanan.  But  in  the  month  of 
June,  1862,  I  had  the  curiosity  to  call  on  that  gentle 
man  at  his  home  near  Lancaster,  called  Wheatland. 
I  found  an  affable,  friendly,  heavy-set  and  gray-haired 
old  gentleman,  seated  in  a  chair  in  his  library.  After 
entering  into  conversation  with  him  upon  general 
topics,  he  touched  upon  his  early  life,  his  struggles  as 
a  young  man  in  the  profession  of  law,  his  nomination 
and  election  to  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States, 
and  also  upon  his  ocrupany  of  that  office.  There  was 
anticipation  at  that  time  of  Richmond  being  captured 
on  or  before  the  coming  Fourth  of  July.  I  asked  Mr. 
Buchanan  if  he  thought  Richmond  would  be  captured 
by  that  time.  He  replied  that  he  did  not,  but  he 
hoped  that  the  war  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union 
would  be  successfully  terminated  by  the  following 
July  a  year.  I  then  asked  him  if  he  thought  Napo- 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  115 

Icon  would  give  his  aid  to  the  Confederacy,  as  it  was 
rumored  at  that  time  that  he  would  do  so.  He  an 
swered  that  Napoleon  was  a  man  who  kept  his  own 
counsel.  During  my  stay  there,  there  was  a  gentle 
man  called  upon  him  for  the  purpose  of  soliciting  aid 
in  defraying  the  expenses  of  celebrating  the  coming 
Fourth  of  July  at  Lancaster,  Pa.  He  contributed 
liberally,  and  told  the  solicitor  if  the  amount  he  had 
already  given  him  was  not  sufficient,  to  call  again, 
and  he  would  contribute  more. 

I  have  since  visited  his  grave  at  Lancaster,  Pa., 
which  has  the  following  inscription  upon  the  tombstone: 

Here  rest  the  remains  of 

JAMES  BUCHANAN, 

Fifteenth  President  of  the  United  States, 

Born  in  Franklin  county,  Pa.,  April  23d,  1781. 

Died  at  Wheatland,  January  I,  1868. 

(Second  side.)  I  78  I- 1  868. 

(Third  side.)  BUCHANAN. 

I  also  called  on  Dr.  Samuel  Jackson,  who,  during  a 
long  and  extended  practice  in  his  profession,  had  been 
at  one  time  Henry  Clay's  physician.  I  attended  a 
course  of  his  lectures  at  the  Medical  Department  of 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  He  had  lost  the  use  of 
his  lower  extremities,  and  was  seated  in  a  chair,  at  his 
home  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.  He  stated  he  had  from 
early  life  to  the  present  been  a  hard  student ;  and  as 
he  was  about  to  pass  through  the  portal  of  this  life 
into  another,  he  expected  still  to  be  a  student  there. 


Il6  REMINISCENCES    OF    TWO    YEARS 

He  stated  that  it  had  at  different  times  of  his  life  been 
a  matter  of  serious  consideration  as  to  how  much  in 
flammable  matter  in  a  given  time  the  sun  used  in 
warming  the  space  included  in  the  solar  system.  He 
said  he  expected  to  be  able  to  make  this  calculation  in 
another  life. 

I  also  met  with  General  James  L.  Kiernan,  in  New 
York  city.  I  was  called  to  attend  him  whilst  visiting 
in  that  city,  in  an  attack  of  congestive  chills,  which  he 
had  contracted  whilst  on  duty  in  the  State  of  Louis 
iana.  He  had  stumped  several  of  the  northern  States 
for  President  Lincoln's  second  election,  and  had  been 
appointed  United  States  Consul  to  China  after  that 
election.  He  filled  this  office  till  the  close  of  Presi 
dent  Johnson's  administration.  He  was  a  man  about 
forty-five  years  of  age,  an  excellent  conversationalist, 
a  good  companion,  and^a  fine  orator. 

On  September  23,  1865,  I  was  ordered  to  Cairo, 
111.,  for  duty  aboard  the  U.  S.  monitors  Oneota  and 
Catawba,  as  a  relief  to  Acting  Assistant  Surgeon  Geo. 
C.  Osgood.  I  reported  to  Commodore  J.  W.  Living 
ston  for  duty  October  6,  1865,  having  arrived  in  Cairo 
on  the  previous  evening.  I  stopped  at  the  St.  Charles 
Hotel  all  night.  The  weather  was  ve~ry  hot  and  dry, 
the  river  was  low,  and  for  a  distance  along  shore  an 
unhealthy  green  foam  had  gathered  along  the  edge  of 
the  river.  Congestive  chills  were  quite  prevalent 
there  that  fall. 

Cairo  is  a  large  and  thriving  town,  situated  at  the 
extreme  southern  point  of  the  state  of  Illinois.  Many 


IN   THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  1 1/ 

of  the  houses  then  were  built  on  stilts  or  posts.  The 
sidewalks  were  also  resting  on  stilts  or  posts,  so  that 
in  crossing  a  street  a  person  would  have  to  walk  down 
a  pair  of  stairs,  then  across  the  street,  and  mount 
another  pair  of  stairs.  During  the  time  of  a  rise  in  the 
Mississippi  or  Ohio  river,  the  place  was  flooded,  and 
then  the  citizens  would  use  boats  for  the  purpose  of 
navigating  from  place  to  place.  The  town  was  some 
what  protected  from  overflows  by  levees. 

The  monitors  were  very  nicely  finished  and  fur 
nished  inside.  The  deck  was  about  six  inches  above 
water.  There  were  four  monitors  anchored  in  line  in 
the  middle  of  the  Ohio  river  off  Cairo.  The  names 
of  them  were  as  follows:  Oneota,  Catawba,  Many- 
yunk  and  Tippecanoe.  The  officers  of  all  these  ves 
sels  messed  aboard  the  U.  S.  monitor  Oneota.  Act 
ing  Lieutenant  Commander  Wells  was  the  captain  of 
the  Oneota.  He  was  afterwards  relieved  by  Acting 
Master  H.  E.  Bartlett.  Thomas  Cook  was  her  chief 
engineer,  and  Don  Carlos  Hasseltino  was  chief  engi 
neer  of  the  monitor  Catawba.  One  of  the  officers 
of  the  Oneota  was  a  persistent  story-teller,  and  the 
only  way  to  get  him  to  stop  telling  his  story  was 
to  suggest  to  kim  to  make  a  chalk  mark  and  finish 
the  remainder  of  it  the  following  day..  One  day, 
early  in  the  morning,  he  and  I  went  ashore  in  Ken 
tucky,  hunting;  and  hunted  all  day  without  any 
dinner.  I  got  very  tired  and  left  him,  and  returned 
to  the  boat,  which  was  made  fast  ashore  opposite  to 
the  junction  of  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio  rivers,  where 


I  1 8  REMINISCENCES    OF    TWO    YEARS 

I  lay  down  on  a  brush-heap  and  fell  asleep;  but  when 
my  companion  started  to  row  to  the  Oneota,  the  rat 
tling  of  the  oars  awakened  me,  otherwise  I  would 
have  been  left.  One  time,  during  a  freshet  in  the  Ohio 
river,  I  think  in  January,  I  had  occasion  to  go  to  one 
of  the  monitors  anchored  in  the  rear  of  the  Oneota. 
After  arriving  on  that  monitor,  in  our  attempt  to  return, 
I  found  that  the  boat  could  make  no  headway  against 
the  current  We  struck  over  along  the  Kentucky  bank 
of  the  river,  and  did  what  the  sailor  calls  "cheating 
the  current;"  that  is,  we  rowed  up  along  the  bank 
of  the  river.  After  rowing  above  the  Oneota,  we 
crossed  the  bows  of  the  Oneota  and  threw  out  the  end 
of  a  painter,  which  was  instantly  tied  around  the 
stanchion  of  the  Oneota.  The  painter  broke,  and  down 
the  river  the  boat  was  carried  by  the  current;  but 
somebody  aboard  the  Oneota  threw  the  end  of  a  rope 
overboard,  which  we  caught,  and  we  were  pulled  back 
aboard.  Another  time  during  the  freshet,  Mr.  Thomas 
Cook  and  I  went  ashore,  and  were  nearly  carried  by 
the  swift  current  between  two  packet  boats,  but  we 
fortunately  saved  ourselves. 

A  pilot  wishing  to  cross  with  a  packet-boat  before 
or  in  front  of  the  Qneota's  bows,  from  a  landing  on 
the  Cairo  side  of  the  river  to  the  Kentucky  side,  ran 
the  boat  into  the  Oneota,  and  the  packet  was  sunk. 
The  packet-boat  was  laden  with  passengers,  who  were 
all  saved. 

Don  Carlos  Hasseltino  was  chief  engineer  of  the 
U.  S.  monitor  Catawba,  but  spent  most  of  his  time  on 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  I  1 9 

board  the  U.  S.  monitor  Oneota,  and  was  one  of  the 
mess-mates  of  that  vessel.  I  associated  with  him 
constantly  from  October  6,  1865,  to  January  16,  1866. 
He  was  a  jolly,  kind,  sympathetic,  and  intelligent 
associate.  In  height  he  was  about  six  feet,  and  had 
a  large,  wiry  frame.  His  hair  and  eyes  were  black  ; 
he  wore  a  black  moustache.  He  never  gave  offence 
to  any  one,  but  would  not  suffer  himself  to  be  insulted. 
He  carried  two  Derringers  in  leather  pockets  but 
toned  to  his  pantaloons  above  the  hips.  He  was 
very  polite  and  chivalrous ;  woe  to  the  person  that 
gave  offense  or  offered  insult.  I  insert  here  a  sketch 
of  his  life. 

[From  the  Cincinnati  Enquirer  of  1880.] 

"A  LIFE  OF  ADVENTURE. 

"GENERAL   DON   CARLOS  HASSELTINO'S    STORY  OF    HIS    START 
LING  CAREER— REBEL  SPY  AND  UNION  OFFICER — HIS 
ADVENTURE  IN  THE  ARMY  IN  PERU  AS  A 
CUBAN  REFUGEE. 

"General  Don  Carlos  Hasseltino  was  met  by  an 
Enquirer  reporter  on  a  Wabash  train  the  other  day. 
His  life  has  been  one  of  adventure.  Previous  to  the 
war  he  graduated  at  Oxford,  in  Butler  county,  in  the 
same  class  with  the  gallant  Joe  Battle,  who,  with  his 
brother,  fell  beside  their  father  at  Shiloh,  while  fight 
ing  under  the  flag  of  the  Lost  Cause.  After  graduat 
ing  he  went  to  Hamilton  and  read  law  with  Judge 
Clark,  who  acquired  some  notoriety  at  Hamilton  by 
his  advocacy  of  the  right  of  secession  in  1 860-61. 
When  the  war  begun,  Hasseltino  determined  to  risk 
his  fortunes  with  the  Confederacy.  He  started  South 


I2O  REMINISCENCES    OF   TWO   YICARS 

under  the  pretext  of  escorting  to  her  husband  in  Ten- 
nesee  Mrs.  Dallie,  the  wife  of  Adjutant  Joe  Battle,  of 
the  Sixth  Tennessee.  They  passed  south  from  Louis 
ville  on  the  last  train  which  left  that  city  before  the 
war,  and  arrived  at  Nashville.  From  there,  young 
1  lasseltino  went  to  Montgomery,  Ala.,  then  the  Con 
federate  capital,  where  he  was  appointed  Major,  and  a 
little  later  Lieutenant-Colonel;  and  was  ordered  to 
IVns.ieola,  Fla.  When  that  place  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  National  troops,  he  was  captured  ;  but  within  a 
day  or  two  he  made  his  escape.  His  next  point  of 
duty  was  at  Fort  Mclicnry,  from  whence  he  went  to 
Louisville  and  bought  for  the  Confederate  troops  a 
quantity  of  supplies,  and  succeeded  in  getting  them 
safely  within  the  Confederate  lines.  When  General 
Grant  was  advancing  upon  Fort  Donaldson,  he  went 
out  as  a.  spy,  and  spent  most  of  three  days  with  the 
Federals,  Being  recognized,  he  was  ordered  to  be 
shot  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  but  in  the  rain 
and  darkness  made  his  escape,  and  reached  the  fort  at 
daylight  the  next  morning,  drenched  and  almost 
frozen.  Upon  his  report  being  heard,  it  was  decided 
to  evacuate  the  fort  with  most  of  the  forces.  From 
Isl.md  No.  IO  he  fell  back  to  Memphis;  and,  believing 
that  nothing  would  stay  the  victorious  march  of  the 
Union  arms,  sent  in  his  resignation,  which  was  ac 
cepted. 

"SECUKINiJ   A   PASS  NORTH. 

"  When  the  Federals  occupied  Memphis  he  remained 
here,  trusting  to  nerve  and  luck  to  get  away.     To  his 


IN   THE   UNITED  STATES   NAVY.  121 

horror  he  learned  the  next  day  that  Colonel  Alex 
ander,  of  the  Forty-eighth  Indiana,  with  whom  he 
was  at  college,  was  made  Provost  Marshal  of  the  post, 
and  that  no  one  could  leave  the  city  except  on  a  pass 
issued  by  him.  He  had  some  knowledge  of  French, 
and  had  grown  quite  a  beard  since  leaving  school, 
and  he  determined  to  take  the  risk.  Walking  into 
the  Colonel's  room,  with  many  shrugs  and  gesticula 
tions  he  asked  for  a '  Permissio  San  Louie,'  and  urged 
it  with  such  vehemence  that  the  Colonel  finally  said 
to  his  assistant,  'Give  the  d — d  Frenchman  a  pass  to 
St.  Louis.'  While  going  up  the  river  he  was  in  con 
stant  dread  of  recognition,  but  fortunately  did  not 
meet  a  soul  whom  he  knew.  Hardly  had  he  landed 
when  he  met  a  former  school-mate  and  intimate  friend 
from  Hamilton,  who  was  then  Assistant  Engineer  in 
the  Navy.  His  friend  knew  that  he  had  gone  south, 
and  accused  him  of  being  in  St.  Louis  as  a  spy.  This 
he  denied,  and  then  told  him  all  the  details  of  his 
adventures,  and  finally  appealed  to  his  friend  for  ad 
vice  as  to  what  he  should  do  or  where  he  should  go, 
for  he  began  to  feel  unsafe  there.  His  friend  advised 
him  not  to  return  to  Hamilton,  where  he  would  be  in 
certain  danger ;  and  finally  suggested  that  he  apply  for 
an  appointment  as  an  assistant  engineer  in  the  navy. 
'  Why,  I  don't  know  a  steam-engine  from  a  horse 
power/  was  his  answer.  But  his  friend  proposed  to 
help  him  out,  and  provided  him  with  a  lot  of  books, 
which  would  teach  him  all  the  theory;  and  at  them 
he  went ;  and  in  six  weeks  he  went  before  the  Exam- 


122  REMINISCENCES    OF    TWO   YEARS 

ining  Board  and  passed  as  a  first  assistant  engineer, 
and  was  ordered  to  duty  on  the  gunboat  Essex,  the 
flag-ship  of  Commodore  Porter,  who  was  in  command 
of  the  Mississippi  river  flotilla.  This  was  jumping 
out  of  the  frying-pan  into  the  fire.  He  knew  nothing 
practically  of  the  engine,  thinking  then,  as  he  told  his 
friend,  that  '  the  pumping  engine  must  be  for  the  pur 
pose  of  moving  the  vessel  sidewise.'  But  luck  was 
on  his  side.  While  lying  in  port,  or  before  going  to 
duty,  he  got  a  few  talks  with  Commodore  Porter,  and 
succeeded  in  getting  to  the  rank  of  Chief  Engineer 
in  the  navy,  and  assigned  to  duty  on  the  staff  of  the 
Commodore.  If  those  who  read  this  will  take  the 
trouble  to  read  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  to  Congress  in  1 864,  they  will  find  that  that 
official  transmitted  to  Congress  that  part  of  Commo 
dore  Porter's  report  which  embraces  a  report  of  Chief 
Engineer  Hasseltino  on  the  construction  of  iron-clad 
gunboats,  and  recommended  the  adoption  of  the 
report. 

"  INSPECTING  GOVERNMENT  IRON-CLADS. 

"After  the  close  of  the  ill-fated  Red  river  campaign, 
Hasseltino  was  ordered  to  St.  Louis  to  inspect  and 
superintend  the  construction  of  the  iron-clads  which 
were  being  built  by  McCord  &  Co.  But  just  before 
leaving  his  vessel  he  had  a  quarrel  with  a  fellow- 
officer,  whom  he  challenged;  but  when  the  challenge 
was  declined  he  opened  on  the  other  party  with  a  bat 
tery  of  Derringers,  fortunately  missing  the  object  of 
his  aim. 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  123 

"In  1865,  he  went  to  some  European  port  and 
brought  a  blockade  runner,  the  name  of  which  I  have 
forgotten.  In  the  early  part  of  1866,  he  was  mustered 
out  of  service  and  went  to  New  Orleans,  intending  to 
go  into  business.  In  the  July  riots  he  was  shot 
through  the  shoulder;  and,  thinking  the  climate  un 
healthy,  went  to  St.  Louis.  Here  he  fell  in  with  a 
representative  of  the  government  of  Chili,  and  went 
to  South  America. 

"In  an  attack  on  Callao — for  Peru  and  Chili  were  at 
war — he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Peruvians,  and  with 
his  usual  luck  was  sentenced  to  be  shot.  By  bribing 
the  guards,  he  succeeded  in  escaping  and  making  his 
way  on  board  of  an  English  vessel,  and  was  landed  at 
Panama.  Crossing  the  Isthmus  to  Aspinwall,  he 
found  a  vessel  ready  to  leave  for  New  Orleans ;  and, 
though  without  money,  managed  to  secure  a  passage 
to  that  place. 

"  Without  money  he  was  naturally  open  for  any  ad 
venture,  and  a  representative  of  the  Cuban  rebellion 
was  the  first  to  offer  him  a  chance.  He  sailed  directly 
to  Nuevitas,  and  before  he  had  been  in  that  port  a 
week  had  fallen  in  love  with  a  young  Cuban  widow, 
who,  though  childless,  was  possessed  of  an  immense 
plantation.  After  the  briefest  possible  courtship,  they 
were  married  in  the  latter  part  of  1867  or  early  in 
1868;  within  three  months  of  the  wedding  she  died 
from  yellow  fever ;  and  before  the  end  of  the  year  her 
estate,  which  he  had  inherited,  was  confiscated,  and 
he  barely  escaped  with  his  life,  landing  in  Florida  in 


124  REMINISCENCES    OF   TWO    YEARS 

an  open  boat  and  in  a  half-starved  condition,  without 
friends  or  money.  He  managed  to  reach  Indiana 
polis  in  July,  1869,  when  a  naval  acquaintance  and 
friend,  James  Noble,  gave  him  an  outfit  of  clothes  and 
money  sufficient  to  take  him  to  Chicago.  Here  he 
determined  to  locate,  and  went  to  work  to  find  busi 
ness.  He  got  an  agency  for  the  sale  of  coal,  and 
soon  had  quite  a  start  in  the  coal  business.  When 
the  Chicago  fire  broke  out,  on  that  dreadful  Sunday 
night,  he  was  out  on  the  lake  boating  with  a  party  of 
friends.  When  he  got  back,  the  conflagration  had 
swept  his  little  coal  pile,  his  office  and  sleeping  room, 
and  he  was  again  left  in  the  world  without  a  change 
of  clothes,  and  with  less  than  five  dollars  in  money. 
The  third  day  of  the  fire  he  was  found  by  Otto 
Hasselman,  of  the  Indianapolis  Journal,  who  was  on 
the  ground  with  a  corps  of  reporters;  and  by  him 
sent  to  Indianapolis,  where  he  was  again  furnished 
with  an  outfit  and  a  ticket  to  St.  Louis.  Shortly 
after  reaching  that  place  he  entered  the  service  of  the 
wholesale  house  of  R.  L.  Billingsley  &  Co.,  and  re 
mained  with  them  until  a  year  ago,  when  he  pur 
chased  a  farm  in  Illinois." 

January  16,  1866,  I  received  a  two  month's  "  leave 
of  absence,"  at  the  expiration  of  which  I  received  the 
following  discharge  : 

UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 
NAVY  DEPARTMENT. 

The  war  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union  having, 


IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVY.  125 

under  the  beneficent  guidance  of  Almighty  God,  been 
brought  to  a  successful  termination,  a  reduction  of  the 
naval  force  becomes  necessary. 

Having  served  with  fidelity  in  the  United  States 
Navy  from  the  22d  day  of  March,  1864,  to  the  present 
date,  you  are  hereby  honorably  discharged  with  the 
thanks  of  the  Department. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  seal,  at  the  city  of  Wash 
ington,  this  23d  day  of  March,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  sixty- six.  GIDEON  WELLES, 

Secretary  of  the  Navy. 
Acting  Assistant  Surgeon, 
John  M.  Batten, 
U.  S.  Navy. 
Guthrieville,  Pa. 

THE   END. 


